Why Did It Take the Infectious Diseases Society of America So Long to Address the Problem of Antibiotic Resistance?

Estimating the Burden of Global Mortality in Children Aged <5 Years by Pathogen‐Specific Causes

“…The trial by Achan et al [1] was therefore underpowered to investigate equivalence, and this and previous trials [3] of rectal quinine for the treatment of severe malaria did not support a statement about equivalence of 2 applications of quinine. Future trials should investigate equivalence in an appropriately powered trial that takes into account power calculations for equivalence trials as a basis in their design.…”

“…To the Editor-Achan et al [1] reported on a randomized trial comparing intrarectal with intravenous quinine and found no difference in outcomes, such as coma recovery time and mortality, in the largest study (thus far) comparing rectal with other applications of quinine for treatment of cerebral malaria. The design and sample size calculation were based on the assumption that rectal quinine is superior to intravenous quinine with regard to parasite clearance time.…”

“…To highlight this issue, we present estimates of global mortality among children aged !5 years by pathogen-specific causes (figure 1), using available World Health Organization Global Burden of Disease data from 2002 (compiled from vital registration data, epidemiological studies, verbal autopsies, disease surveillance systems, and analyses from World Health Organization technical programs) [1][2][3]. Most deaths among children aged !5 years were due to infectious diseases; infectious diseases accounted for 64% of deaths globally and 81% in the Africa region [1].…”

“…Most deaths among children aged !5 years were due to infectious diseases; infectious diseases accounted for 64% of deaths globally and 81% in the Africa region [1]. More than one-half of these deaths were attributed to "respiratory infections" (26%) and "diarrheal diseases" (24%).…”

“…Infection-related global mortality among children aged !5 years by pathogen-specific cause, based on figures from the World Health Organization Global Burden of Disease 2002 estimates [1,2]. Infection-related deaths accounted for 64% of all deaths in children aged !5 years [1]. Of child deaths from respiratory infection, 41% were attributed to Streptococcus pneumoniae, and 22% were attributed to Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).…”