Home optometrist >> News and optical eyewear >> News >> News Trachoma: Achieving more with less

Researchers from the University of California in San Francisco conducted a study in Ethiopia which showed that trachoma can be treated with smaller doses of antibiotics given every six months, instead of once a year.

This discovery could treat twice the number of patients, particularly in areas where the high cost of drugs impedes treatment. In the 24 Ethiopian communities involved in the study, 40% to 50% of the children had trachoma.

The researchers administered the usual annual treatment in 12 communities and a biannual treatment in 12 other communities. The findings, published in The Lancet, show that the result was comparable in all communities, with a dramatic reduction in the prevalence of the disease. It was even eliminated in some villages. “We will now be able to reach more people and thus slow down trachoma-related blindness,” said Bruce Gaynor, one of the team’s researchers.

Nearly 41 million people around the world are infected with trachoma, and 8 million go blind because of lack of access to treatment.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111221140712.htm

 

Share this article