A double-masked placebo-controlled trial of azithromycin to prevent child mortality in Burkina Faso, West Africa: Community Health with Azithromycin Trial (CHAT) study protocol

Background Biannual, mass azithromycin distribution has previously been shown to reduce all-cause child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Subgroup analysis suggested that the strongest effects were in the youngest children, leading to the hypothesis that targeting younger age groups might be an effective strategy to prevent mortality. We present the methods of two randomized controlled trials designed to evaluate mass and targeted azithromycin distribution for the prevention of child mortality in Burkina Faso, West Africa.