Active clinical trials for "Birth Weight"

The purpose of this study is to test the safety of silver alginate (Algidex™) dressing in VLBW infants in preparation for a large efficacy trial.

The purpose of this Phase 1 study is to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of BSYX-A110 in a small number of healthy adult volunteers. Following the demonstration of safety in adults, this anti-Staphylococcal monoclonal antibody will then be evaluated in the target population of hospitalized low birth weight neonates.

At our field site in southern Nepal, acute respiratory illness (ARI) has been a leading cause of mortality among young children. Besides immunization there is little evidence for effective primary preventive approaches for ARI on a population basis. Low birth weight is highly prevalent in this population as well affecting approximately 30% of live born infants. Low birth weight is a key determinant of neonatal mortality and has also been resistant to cost-effective interventions in resource poor settings. Given the lack of appropriate interventions for poor, rural areas in developing countries and the strong observational association between open burning of biomass fuel sources and ARI in young children and low birth weight, we have designed a community-based randomized trial to determine if reductions in household indoor smoke exposure can reduce the incidence and duration of acute lower respiratory infections in children <36 months of age and low birthweight among newborn infants. Household indoor smoke reduction will be accomplished by replacing the current cook stove in the household with a locally appropriate, inexpensive model that is more efficient and vented to the exterior. In addition, we will assess the impact on respiratory function and symptoms among adults in the household. The project has 2 phases. Phase 1 is a cluster-randomized, community-based, step-wedge trial of cookstove replacement in a rural population of southern Nepal. Households will be randomized to receive replacement of their cook stove with an appropriately designed, efficient stove that is vented to the exterior at different time periods during the course of the study. An initial period of surveillance for ARI and low birth weight will establish a baseline rate for all clusters. This will be followed by the randomized, serial replacements of cook stoves over a 12 month period. Surveillance will continue throughout this period and for an additional 6 -18 months depending on when the stove was replaced. Phase 2 is a individually randomized trial in a subset of households that will receive either the improved biomass stove from phase 1 or a LPG stove and gas. Follow-up for phase 2 will be for 12 months with the same outcomes as phase 1. Measurement of indoor air particulate concentration will be conducted in all households before and after stove replacement. The analysis for both phases will focus on estimating the impact on incidence of ARI in children and low birth weight among live births as a result of stove replacement. Approximately 4200 children 1-35 months of age will be required to observe a minimum 10% reduction in risk of ARI with 90% power in phase 1. Given the expected number of live births to occur in these clusters, we can detect a 50 gram difference in birthweight with over 90% power and a type I error of 5%. Phase 2 will have lower power (total of 1800 households).

IPT/SP was adopted in 2005 by The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Burkina Faso to replace chemoprophylaxis with CQ in pregnancy. The new strategy is being implemented but no delivery approach was defined and presumably IPT/SP will only be delivered to pregnant women presenting at ANC visits. It would be of extreme importance to ensure a better coverage and higher compliance to make the new strategy effective. In order to obtain a more efficient IPT/SP programme with a good level of compliance and coverage, several delivery approaches beside ANC should be explored. The study site will be in Pissy health district covering both peri-urban Ouagadougou city and rural areas. Participants include pregnant women irrespective of gravidity residing in the study area. The study is a prospective comparative study of 3 different approaches of delivering IPT/SP in the catchment areas of rural health facilities. The approaches will be the following: Passive health centre based delivery approach (PHC). IPT/SP will be delivered to pregnant women presenting to the health centre for ANC visits. Joint, with an advanced strategies delivery approach (JAS). In addition to passive delivery at health centres, the pregnant women will be reached during preventive activities the health staff carry out regularly in villages, such as immunization, health promotion, and even ANC visits. Community based distribution delivery approach (CBD). In addition to passive delivery at health centres, the pregnant women will be reached by traditional birth attendants (TBAs) or representatives of village women's associations (RWAs). Each approach will be implemented in a zone constituted by the catchment area of a number of health centres to achieve the required sample size. The zones will be randomly assigned to a delivery approach. The main outcomes to be measured are: a) the coverage of IPT, b) compliance, c) infection prevalence, d) Hb level, e) difficulties and constraints of each approach, f) the acceptability to population and health staff and g) the performance of each approach to deliver IPT /SP. to be able to identify a significant increase in coverage of 10%, each group should be composed of n = 3841 pregnant women. Cross sectional surveys will be carried out at the beginning, during and at the end of the study period. The study will be carried out over 24 months from June 2007.

The purpose of the study is to determine the safety and efficacy of ibuprofen, compared with indomethacin, in the treatment for the closure of the patent ductus arteriosus in premature babies born under 29 weeks gestation

The objective of this study was the evaluation of periodontal condition in pregnant women and the effect of the treatment of periodontal disease upon low birth weight.

The purpose of this study is to determine if buccal administration of a concentrated formulation of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) can help to maintain docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants.

Nutrition and exercise behaviour change programs can prevent excessive gestational weight gain (EGWG). The Nutrition and Exercise Lifestyle Intervention Program (NELIP) is a previously published two-behaviour change program which was successful in preventing EGWG across normal weight, overweight and obese pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) categories (Ruchat et al. 2012; Mottola et al. 2010), however some women found it difficult to adhere to two lifestyle behaviour changes throughout pregnancy. The proposed pilot randomized controlled trial will address the issue of adherence by identifying the best way to offer a two-behaviour change program (NELIP) to pregnant women to increase the effectiveness of preventing early and total EGWG. Participants will begin the program at <18 weeks gestation and will be randomized to one of three groups: A) Receive both behaviour changes (Nutrition AND Exercise) simultaneously at entrance to the study; B) Receive the nutrition component first followed sequentially by the introduction of exercise at 25 weeks gestation (Nutrition FOLLOWED by Exercise); C) Receive the exercise component first followed sequentially by the introduction of the nutrition component at 25 weeks gestation (Exercise FOLLOWED by Nutrition).

The Milk Trial seeks to determine the effect on neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 22-26 months of donor human milk as compared to preterm infant formula as the in-hospital diet for infants whose mothers choose not to provide breast milk or are able to provide only a minimal amount. Infants will be randomized to receive donor breast milk or formula during their hospital stay. Infant's will be followed until they reach 22-26 months of age.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends BCG vaccination at birth in developing countries. Pre-term infants should be vaccinated when they reach the chronological age of 40 weeks. Due to difficulties in establishing the correct gestational age, the vaccination policy for BCG in many developing countries is defined by birth weight rather than by gestational maturity. In the study area, low birth weight (LBW) infants (< 2500 g) are not supposed to be vaccinated at birth; instead the mother is asked to return for vaccination when the child has gained sufficient weight. BCG has marked immune stimulatory effects in both animal and human studies and observational studies suggest that BCG is associated with a non-specific reduction in mortality in areas with high infant and child mortality. The specific objective of the study is to examine the effect of early vaccination of LBW children for adverse events, purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD) reaction, scar size, morbidity, and mortality in a randomised prospective study of BCG vaccination at birth versus later (according to policy) among children 19 months of age in Guinea-Bissau. The hypothesis is that BCG vaccination of low birth weight (LBW) children at birth reduces infant mortality of this high-risk group by 25%.