In Large Study, a Single Antibiotic Dose Slashed Rate of Sepsis in Childbirth

February 9, 2023

(STAT News) – An inexpensive and easy-to-deliver intervention — a single dose of the antibiotic azithromycin — could sharply reduce the number of pregnant people in low- and middle-income countries who develop the life-threatening condition sepsis in childbirth, a study published Thursday reported. The results of an international trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that administration of the antibiotic during labor cut the risk of the mother developing sepsis by about 35% — a large effect for such a simple intervention. (Read More)