Mass antibiotic treatment and community protection in trachoma control programs.
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Volume 39, No. 9, Year 2004
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Azithromycin is highly effective against trachoma, but the practical difficulties of community-wide distribution often leave many individuals untreated. We demonstrate, after mass azithromycin treatment of a population in Ethiopia, an indirect protective effect that occurred among untreated children who resided in villages in which most individuals had been treated. Similarities with the indirect protection within a treated community (i.e., "herd protection") that has been observed in vaccination programs are discussed.