TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics and antibiotic use by site among 1954 children in the MAL-ED cohort who were followed until at least 6 months of age with subsequent anthropometry
| Dhaka, BangladeshNo. (%) | Fortaleza, BrazilNo. (%) | Vellore, IndiaNo. (%) | Bhaktapur, NepalNo. (%) | Loreto, PeruNo. (%) | Naushahro Feroze, PakistanNo. (%) | Venda, South AfricaNo. (%) | Haydom, TanzaniaNo. (%) | OverallNo. (%) | |
| Children followed until 6 mo with subsequent anthropometry | 240 | 207 | 234 | 235 | 269 | 265 | 259 | 245 | 1954 |
| Children with anthropometry at 2 years | 212 (87.6) | 168 (80.4) | 227 (96.2) | 228 (96.6) | 200 (74.1) | 249 (94.0) | 238 (91.2) | 214 (86.3) | 1736 (88.3) |
| Female sex | 122 (50.8) | 101 (48.8) | 128 (54.7) | 109 (46.4) | 123 (45.7) | 136 (51.3) | 129 (49.8) | 124 (50.6) | 972 (49.7) |
| Crowding in the home (2+ people per room) | 225 (93.8) | 29 (14.0) | 185 (79.0) | 93 (39.6) | 100 (37.2) | 229 (86.4) | 35 (13.5) | 107 (43.7) | 1003 (51.3) |
| Maternal education < 6 years | 152 (63.3) | 27 (13.0) | 82 (35.3) | 60 (25.5) | 60 (22.3) | 218 (82.3) | 6 (2.3) | 94 (38.4) | 699 (35.8) |
| Monthly income <150 USD | 157 (65.4) | 7 (3.4) | 216 (92.3) | 114 (48.5) | 188 (69.9) | 145 (54.7) | 51 (19.7) | 242 (98.8) | 1120 (57.3) |
| Median months of exclusive breast-feeding (IQR) | 5.0 (3.8, 5.7) | 2.6 (1.3, 4.3) | 3.5 (2.5, 4.6) | 3.0 (1.5, 4.4) | 2.7 (1.0, 4.3) | 0.5 (0.3, 0.7) | 1.0 (0.6, 1.7) | 1.8 (1.1, 2.7) | 2.2 (0.9, 4) |
| Courses of antibiotics before 6 mo | |||||||||
| 0 | 4 (1.7) | 182 (87.9) | 87 (37.2) | 106 (45.1) | 58 (21.6) | 4 (1.5) | 179 (69.1) | 50 (20.4) | 670 (34.3) |
| 1 | 18 (7.5) | 25 (12.1) | 64 (27.4) | 90 (38.3) | 71 (26.4) | 14 (5.3) | 55 (21.2) | 76 (31.0) | 413 (21.1) |
| 2 | 36 (15.0) | 0 (0) | 36 (15.4) | 26 (11.1) | 71 (26.4) | 25 (9.4) | 21 (8.1) | 54 (22.0) | 269 (13.8) |
| 3+ | 182 (75.8) | 0 (0) | 47 (20.1) | 13 (5.5) | 69 (25.7) | 222 (83.8) | 4 (1.5) | 65 (26.5) | 602 (30.8) |
| Median days of antibiotics before 6 mo (IQR) | 26 (15, 38) | 0 (0, 0) | 4 (0, 9) | 3 (0, 7) | 7 (3, 13) | 31 (16, 48) | 0 (0, 2) | 8 (3, 16) | 6 (0, 18) |
| At least 1 day of class-specific antibiotic exposure before 6 mo | |||||||||
| Penicillins | 202 (84.2) | 18 (8.7) | 93 (39.7) | 61 (26.0) | 173 (64.3) | 151 (57.0) | 59 (22.8) | 150 (61.2) | 907 (46.4) |
| Cephalosporins | 158 (65.8) | 5 (2.4) | 62 (26.5) | 27 (11.5) | 33 (12.3) | 205 (77.4) | 1 (0.4) | 2 (0.8) | 493 (25.2) |
| Macrolides | 143 (59.6) | 1 (0.5) | 21 (9) | 28 (11.9) | 86 (32) | 79 (29.8) | 7 (2.7) | 6 (2.5) | 371 (19.0) |
| Metronidazole | 8 (3.3) | 0 (0) | 11 (4.7) | 37 (15.7) | 2 (0.7) | 156 (58.9) | 3 (1.2) | 59 (24.1) | 276 (14.1) |
| Sulfonamides | 3 (1.3) | 1 (0.5) | 22 (9.4) | 19 (8.1) | 45 (16.7) | 73 (27.6) | 10 (3.9) | 55 (22.5) | 228 (11.7) |
| Fluoroquinolones | 34 (14.2) | 0 (0) | 16 (6.8) | 4 (1.7) | 1 (0.4) | 9 (3.4) | 0 (0) | 2 (0.8) | 66 (3.4) |
| Campylobacter detection before 6 mo | 128 (53.3) | 27 (13.0) | 99 (42.3) | 90 (38.3) | 103 (38.3) | 175 (66.0) | 105 (40.5) | 147 (60.0) | 874 (44.7) |
| EAEC detection before 6 mo | 166 (69.2) | 150 (72.5) | 178 (76.1) | 147 (62.6) | 107 (39.8) | 219 (82.6) | 161 (62.2) | 223 (91.0) | 1351 (69.1) |
| Giardia detection before 6 mo | 3 (1.3) | 6 (2.9) | 15 (6.4) | 7 (3.0) | 19 (7.1) | 99 (37.4) | 3 (1.2) | 20 (8.2) | 172 (8.8) |
| Mean enrollment WAZ* | −1.28 | −0.16 | −1.30 | −0.91 | −0.62 | −1.42 | −0.38 | −0.13 | −0.78 |
| Mean enrollment LAZ* | −1.03 | −0.78 | −1.03 | −0.70 | −0.96 | −0.71 | −1.01 | −0.89 | |
| Mean WAZ at 2 years | −1.61 | 0.37 | −1.65 | −0.93 | −0.82 | −1.65 | −0.51 | −1.33 | −1.06 |
| Mean LAZ at 2 years | −2.03 | −0.07 | −1.92 | −1.35 | −1.89 | −1.71 | −2.66 | −1.71 | |
EAEC = enteroaggregative E coli; IQR = interquartile range; LAZ = length-for-age z score; USD = United States Dollars; WAZ = weight-for-age z score.
*Within 17 days of birth.