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Antibiotic Doesn't Prevent Preterm Labor
Reported December 02, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research has some experts ruling out
bacterial infection as a primary cause of premature births.
Azithromycin is an antibiotic currently used worldwide to treat infections
such as syphilis, chlamydia and Ureaplasma urealyticum, a bacterial
infection researchers believed to be a root cause of premature labor.
Researchers at Liverpool University tested whether using this drug to treat
bacteria before it is detected would prevent early childbirths, defined as
births before 37 weeks of gestation.
"Infection can occur early in pregnancy and remain undetected, so one way of
reducing incidences of preterm labor may be to administer antibiotics before
patients display any signs of infection," Jim Neilson, professor at
Liverpool University's School of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine,
was quoted as saying. "Our study showed, however, that treating infection
with azithromycin had no impact on reducing incidences of preterm labor."
Researchers treated half of 2,000 women with the oral antibiotic and half
with a placebo. No significant difference between the two groups was seen in
the outcome of pregnancies, categorizing the drug as ineffective in
preventing premature births. Dr. Neilson says the results suggest preterm
labor may not be caused by infections.
SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, 2009 |
