Ocular immune responses, Chlamydia trachomatis infection and clinical signs of trachoma before and after azithromycin mass drug administration in a treatment naïve trachoma-endemic Tanzanian community

Trachoma, caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, remains the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Persistence and progression of the resulting clinical disease appears to be an immunologically mediated process. Azithromycin, which is distributed at the community level for trachoma control, has immunomodulatory properties. We investigated the impact of one round of oral azithromycin on conjunctival immune responses, C. trachomatis infection and clinical signs three- and six- months post treatment relative to three pre-treatment time-points.

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