Summary of the project
BLMs4BU project (Beta-lactams for Buruli ulcer) aims to reduce from 8 to 4 weeks the treatment of Buruli ulcer by co-administering amoxicillin/clavulanate with current therapy (rifampicin/clarithromycin).
An international consortium is conducting this clinical trial in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. This skin Neglected Tropical Disease continues to affect thousands of people each year causing disability and stigma. Treatment requires 8 weeks of two antibiotics, rifampicin and clarithromycin, daily (recommended by the World Health Organization, WHO), wound care, and sometimes tissue grafting and surgery. Healing can take up to a year. This disease mainly affects people in rural environments and impoverished settings, where access to health services is limited. A shortened, highly effective, all-oral treatment would reduce healing time and would require less hospitalisation and therefore less costs, providing an easier and shorter therapy.
Objective
To assess whether BU treatment could be reduced from 8 to 4 weeks by co-administering amoxicillin/clavulanate together with the current therapy of rifampicin/clarithromycin.