A controlled double-blind stratified trial was carried out in a village in Southern Iran to assess the efficacy of family-based intermittent
therapy of hyperendemic
trachoma with topical
oxytetracycline oily
suspension twice daily for 7 days each month, or oral
doxycycline 5 mg per kilogram of
body weight once a month, in comparison with a control group which received
vitamin pills once a month. In addition all other members of the selected children's families were also treated with the same regimen of
therapy. The treatment was given for a period of 1 year by 3 field technicians, each responsible for one regimen of
therapy. Examining the whole conjunctiva 4 months after the start of
therapy, we observed no marked difference in the cure rate or the number of patients with moderate to severe
trachoma between the groups treated with
antibiotics and the control group. When treatment was continued for 12 months, a marked decrease in the prevalence of
trachoma and in the grades of intensity of inflammatory responses as well as the positivity rate for Chlamydia trachomatis was observed in the groups treated with the topical
oxytetracycline or oral
doxycycline compared with the control group. While there was no marked difference between the efficacy of these 2 regimens of mass
chemotherapy, the monthly intermittent
therapy with a single dose of
doxycycline offers the advantage of being more practical and less expensive for mass control of
trachoma by requiring approximately one-tenth of the staff, transport, and other facilities required for the intermittent topical
therapy with
tetracycline eye
ointment.