INTRODUCTION
deficits in cognitive development, weight gain, Undernutrition
SECONDARY, GROWTH FAILURE, UNDERNUTRITION, SUBCLINICAL INFECTION
Undernutrition during early infancy predisposes children to later growth failure, deficits in cognitive development, and mortality.Antibiotics are commonly used for growth promotion in food animals.Biannual mass azithromycin distribution to all children in a given community, regardless of whether they have clinical or subclinical infection, with a single oral 20-mg/kg dose has been shown to lead to reductions in all-cause childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.The NAITRE trial was a 1:1 randomized placebo-controlled trial designed to assess whether a single oral dose of azithromycin administered during the neonatal period reduces all-cause infant mortality in Burkina Faso. In this prespecified secondary analysis of the parent trial, we evaluated whether a single dose (20 mg/kg) of azithromycin, similar to that used in previous studies of azithromycin for prevention of childhood mortality, administered during the neonatal period (8 to 27 days of life) resulted in greater child growth compared with placebo among infants. We hypothesized that neonates receiving azithromycin would have greater weight gain and linear growth compared with those receiving placebo.