Antibiotics or not? Soon in The Lancet

The Lancet Global Health has accepted a paper submitted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal with results from its randomized control study that tested two hypotheses among HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants in South Africa.

• Breastfed HEU infants who do not receive co-trimoxazole (CTX) will not have inferior outcomes in terms of incidence of common childhood illnesses or mortality compared to infants who do receive CTX
• Breastfed HEU infants who do receive CTX will experience changes in the microbiome of the gut compared to infants who do not receive CTX

The study was based on the current World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation that all HEU infants be given prophylaxis antibiotics until they are weaned, and until HIV infection can be excluded. It was supported by the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council and FLRF.

Please stay tuned for results!