Africa: Why Africa Needs More Antibiotic Trials Involving Children

analysis

The baby was presented to us in the arms of a wide-eyed young mother, and wrapped in brightly coloured chitenje cloth. The newborn was breathing quickly, her nostrils were flaring, she was grunting and we could see the muscles around her small rib cage being sucked in with each breath. She was only a week old, and had developed breathing problems the night before, the mother said. She also had a fever, had stopped eating, and was not voiding as much as she had been earlier.

As the mother was speaking, the clinicians undressed the baby, placed some tubing into her nose to deliver oxygen, placed an intravenous line into the baby's arm, and - most crucially - collected some blood to send to the laboratory. Antibiotics were then administered.

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