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Measles
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PEDIATRICS Vol. 109 No. 2 February 2002, pp. 312-315

COMMENTARY

Why We Need to Know Whether Prophylactic Antibiotics Can Reduce Measles-Related Morbidity

ABSTRACT

In some parts of the world, measles vaccination has resulted in very substantial reductions in measles-related morbidity and mortality. Even so, it has been estimated that 30 million people still contract the disease every year, that nearly 1 million of these die, and that measles-related deaths account for about 10% of all deaths in children under the age of 5 in developing countries. Existing evidence from controlled trials suggests that antibiotic prophylaxis in measles can result in important reductions in measles-related morbidity, and, at a World Health Organization meeting convened in 1993 to decide on research priorities for the treatment of measles, highest priority was accorded to additional controlled trials of prophylactic antibiotics. As controlled trials of vitamin A in measles have made clear, such trials are feasible. Continued acquiescence in uncertainties about the effects of prophylactic antibiotics in a disease that continues to afflict so many children worldwide is unacceptable.

Iain Chalmers, MD

UK Cochrane Centre
NHS Research and Development Programme
Summertown Pavilion
Middle Way
Oxford OX2 7LG, United Kingdom

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Key Words: measles • prophylaxis • antibiotics

Abbreviations: WHO, World Health Organization

Received for publication May 10, 2000; Accepted Sep 6, 2001.


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