LAIS - Lungwena Antenatal Intervention Study

Lungwena Antenatal Intervention Study (LAIS) was a randomized, three-arm parallel-group investigator-blinded clinical trial that primarily aimed to assess the impact of intensive presumptive treatment of maternal malaria and other infections on the incidence of preterm delivery and associated ill health.

The original study hypothesis was that maternal antibiotic treatment with monthly SP, alone or in combination with two doses of azithromycin, improves foetal growth and decreases the incidence of preterm delivery, thus leading to an increased infant size at birth and at one month of age. The primary efficacy and safety outcome measures were the incidence of preterm delivery and serious adverse events, main secondary outcomes mean newborn size (weight, length, MUAC, head circumference) at birth and at 28 days of age as well as prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting at the age of 28 days.

The results on the pregnancy outcomes, as well as studies on malaria immunity and parasite antibiotic resistance have been published in international journals (Luntamo et al., 2010; Luntamo et al., 2012; Luntamo et al., 2013).