The efficacy of commonly used antibiotics for treating severe cholera has been compromised over time because of the reduced antibiotic susceptibility. This study aimed to describe the rate of detection of Vibrio cholerae O1 from fecal samples and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of V. cholerae O1 serotypes to commonly used antibiotics.

We aimed to identify clinical predictors of fatal outcome in children under 5 years of age having diarrhea and severe sepsis and treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Dhaka Hospital of icddr,b from October 2010 through September 2011. Among 191 enrolled children, 70 (37%) died and were considered to be cases, while the remaining 121 (63%) who survived constituted the controls. The cases more often had shortness of breath (SOB), septic shock, dehydrating diarrhea compared with the controls (for all, P < .05). After adjusting for potential confounders using logistic regression analysis, the likelihood of death was higher in children who had septic shock and SOB and lower in children having dehydrating diarrhea (for all, P < .05). Thus, SOB can trigger an early alarm for sepsis recognition; otherwise, these children can end up with fatality from septic shock. In resource-poor settings, early identification of these predictors can alleviate death.

Children with diarrhea hospitalized for respiratory distress often have fatal outcome in resource-limited settings, although data are lacking on risk factors for death in such children. We sought to evaluate clinical predictors for death in such children. In this prospective cohort study, we enrolled under-5 children with diarrhea admitted with severe respiratory distress to the intensive care unit of Dhaka Hospital of International Centre for Diarhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, from September 2014 through September 2015. We compared clinical and laboratory characteristics between study children those who died (n = 29) and those who survived (n = 62). In logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders, the independent predictors for death in children hospitalized for diarrhea and severe respiratory distress were severe sepsis and hypoglycemia (P < .05 for all). Thus, recognition of these simple parameters may help clinicians identify children with diarrhea at risk of deaths in order to initiate prompt management for the better outcome, especially in resource-poor settings.

IMPORTANCEWorld Health Organization (WHO) guidelines do not recommend routine antibiotic use for children with acute watery diarrhea. However, recent studies suggest that a significant proportion of such episodes have a bacterial cause and are associated with mortality and growth impairment, especially among children at high risk of diarrhea-associated mortality. Expanding antibiotic use among dehydrated or undernourished children may reduce diarrhea-associated mortality and improve growth. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the addition of azithromycin to standard case management of acute nonbloody watery diarrhea for children aged 2 to 23 months who are dehydrated or undernourished could reduce mortality and improve linear growth. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The Antibiotics for Children with Diarrhea (ABCD) trial was a multicountry, randomized, double-blind, clinical trial among 8266 high-risk children aged 2 to 23 months presenting with acute nonbloody diarrhea. Participants were recruited between July 1, 2017, and July 10, 2019, from 36 outpatient hospital departments or community health centers in a mixture of urban and rural settings in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Pakistan, and Tanzania. Each participant was followed up for 180 days. Primary analysis included all randomized participants by intention to treat. INTERVENTIONS Enrolled children were randomly assigned to receive either oral azithromycin, 10 mg/kg, or placebo once daily for 3 days in addition to standard WHO case management protocols for the management of acute watery diarrhea. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality up to 180 days after enrollment and linear growth faltering 90 days after enrollment. RESULTS A total of 8266 children (4463 boys [54.0%]; mean [SD] age, 11.6 [5.3] months) were randomized. A total of 20 of 4133 children in the azithromycin group (0.5%) and 28 of 4135 children in the placebo group (0.7%) died (relative risk, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.40-1.27). The mean (SD) change in length-for-age z scores 90 days after enrollment was -0.16 (0.59) in the azithromycin group and −0.19 (0.60) in the placebo group (risk difference, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.01-0.06). Overall mortality was much lower than anticipated, and the trial was stopped for futility at the prespecified interim analysis. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThe study did not detect a survival benefit for children from the addition of azithromycin to standard WHO case management of acute watery diarrhea in low-resource settings. There was a small reduction in linear growth faltering in the azithromycin (continued) Key Points Question Does the addition of azithromycin to the standard case management of acute watery diarrhea for children aged 2 to 23 months who are dehydrated or undernourished reduce mortality and improve linear growth? Findings This randomized clinical trial of 8266 children was unable to detect a survival benefit for children from the addition of azithromycin to the standard World Health Organization (WHO) case management of acute wat...

Background After a multi-country Asian outbreak of cholera due to Vibrio cholerae serogroup O139 which started in 1992, it is rarely detected from any country in Asia and has not been detected from patients in Africa. Methodology/Principal findings We extracted surveillance data from the Dhaka and Matlab Hospitals of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) to review trends in isolation of Vibrio cholerae O139 in Bangladesh. Data from the Dhaka Hospital is a 2% sample of > 100,000 diarrhoeal patients treated annually. Data from the Matlab Hospital includes all diarrhoeal patients who hail from the villages included in the Matlab Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Vibrio cholerae O139 was first isolated in Dhaka in 1993 and had been isolated every year since then except for a gap between 2005 and 2008. An average of thirteen isolates was detected annually from the Dhaka Hospital during the last ten years, yielding an estimated 650 cases annually at this hospital. During the last ten years, cases due to serogroup O139 represented 0.47% of all cholera cases; the others being due to serogroup O1. No cases with serogroup O139 were identified at Matlab since 2006. Clinical signs and symptoms of cholera due to serogroup O139 were similar to cases due to serogroup O1 though more of the O139 cases were not dehydrated. Most isolates of O139 remained sensitive to tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and azithromycin, but they became resistant to erythromycin starting in 2009. Conclusions/Significance Cholera due to Vibrio cholerae serogroup O139 continues to cause typical cholera in Dhaka, Bangladesh.