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Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Scrub typhus is a zoonotic disease that remains an important health threat in endemic areas. Appropriate anti-rickettsial treatment ensures a successful recovery. Doxycycline is a recommended drug, but it is contraindicated in pregnant women and young children. Azithromycin is a safer al...

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Autores principales: Lee, Szu-Chia, Cheng, Yu-Jyun, Lin, Chao-Hsu, Lei, Wei-Te, Chang, Hung-Yang, Lee, Ming-Dar, Liu, Jui-Ming, Hsu, Ren-Jun, Chiu, Nan-Chang, Chi, Hsin, Peng, Chun-Chih, Tsai, Te-Lung, Lin, Chien-Yu
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer Health 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6392745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28885357
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000007992
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author Lee, Szu-Chia
Cheng, Yu-Jyun
Lin, Chao-Hsu
Lei, Wei-Te
Chang, Hung-Yang
Lee, Ming-Dar
Liu, Jui-Ming
Hsu, Ren-Jun
Chiu, Nan-Chang
Chi, Hsin
Peng, Chun-Chih
Tsai, Te-Lung
Lin, Chien-Yu
author_facet Lee, Szu-Chia
Cheng, Yu-Jyun
Lin, Chao-Hsu
Lei, Wei-Te
Chang, Hung-Yang
Lee, Ming-Dar
Liu, Jui-Ming
Hsu, Ren-Jun
Chiu, Nan-Chang
Chi, Hsin
Peng, Chun-Chih
Tsai, Te-Lung
Lin, Chien-Yu
author_sort Lee, Szu-Chia
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Scrub typhus is a zoonotic disease that remains an important health threat in endemic areas. Appropriate anti-rickettsial treatment ensures a successful recovery. Doxycycline is a recommended drug, but it is contraindicated in pregnant women and young children. Azithromycin is a safer alternative drug, but its effectiveness remains largely unclear. Herein, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of azithromycin. METHODS: Studies that investigated azithromycin in treating scrub typhus were systematically identified from electronic databases up to December 2016. Information regarding study population, disease severity, treatment protocols, and responses was extracted and analyzed. RESULTS: In this review, 5 studies were included, which comprised a total of 427 patients. When comparing the treatment failure rate, we observed a favorable outcome in patients treated with azithromycin (risk ratio [RR] 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.23–2.98). However, patients in the azithromycin group had longer time to defervescence (mean difference 4.38 hours, 95% CI −2.51 to 11.27) and higher rate of fever for more than 48 hours (RR 1.31, 95% CI 0.81–2.12). Moreover, patients treated with azithromycin had less adverse effects (RR 0.8, 95% CI 0.42–1.52). CONCLUSIONS: Azithromycin is as effective as other anti-rickettsial drugs with higher treatment success rates, lower frequency of adverse effects, and longer time to defervescence (GRADE 2B). Therefore, it is reasonable to use azithromycin as the first-line treatment against scrub typhus. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the effectiveness of azithromycin in specific patient groups, at high dose and influence of drug resistance.
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spelling pubmed-63927452019-03-15 Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis Lee, Szu-Chia Cheng, Yu-Jyun Lin, Chao-Hsu Lei, Wei-Te Chang, Hung-Yang Lee, Ming-Dar Liu, Jui-Ming Hsu, Ren-Jun Chiu, Nan-Chang Chi, Hsin Peng, Chun-Chih Tsai, Te-Lung Lin, Chien-Yu Medicine (Baltimore) Research Article BACKGROUND: Scrub typhus is a zoonotic disease that remains an important health threat in endemic areas. Appropriate anti-rickettsial treatment ensures a successful recovery. Doxycycline is a recommended drug, but it is contraindicated in pregnant women and young children. Azithromycin is a safer alternative drug, but its effectiveness remains largely unclear. Herein, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of azithromycin. METHODS: Studies that investigated azithromycin in treating scrub typhus were systematically identified from electronic databases up to December 2016. Information regarding study population, disease severity, treatment protocols, and responses was extracted and analyzed. RESULTS: In this review, 5 studies were included, which comprised a total of 427 patients. When comparing the treatment failure rate, we observed a favorable outcome in patients treated with azithromycin (risk ratio [RR] 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.23–2.98). However, patients in the azithromycin group had longer time to defervescence (mean difference 4.38 hours, 95% CI −2.51 to 11.27) and higher rate of fever for more than 48 hours (RR 1.31, 95% CI 0.81–2.12). Moreover, patients treated with azithromycin had less adverse effects (RR 0.8, 95% CI 0.42–1.52). CONCLUSIONS: Azithromycin is as effective as other anti-rickettsial drugs with higher treatment success rates, lower frequency of adverse effects, and longer time to defervescence (GRADE 2B). Therefore, it is reasonable to use azithromycin as the first-line treatment against scrub typhus. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the effectiveness of azithromycin in specific patient groups, at high dose and influence of drug resistance. Wolters Kluwer Health 2017-09-08 /pmc/articles/PMC6392745/ /pubmed/28885357 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000007992 Text en Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
spellingShingle Research Article
Lee, Szu-Chia
Cheng, Yu-Jyun
Lin, Chao-Hsu
Lei, Wei-Te
Chang, Hung-Yang
Lee, Ming-Dar
Liu, Jui-Ming
Hsu, Ren-Jun
Chiu, Nan-Chang
Chi, Hsin
Peng, Chun-Chih
Tsai, Te-Lung
Lin, Chien-Yu
Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis
title Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis
title_full Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis
title_fullStr Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis
title_full_unstemmed Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis
title_short Comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis
title_sort comparative effectiveness of azithromycin for treating scrub typhus: a prisma-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6392745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28885357
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000007992
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