Penicillin Prophylaxis in Sickle Cell Disease (PROPS)

To determine whether the regular daily administration of oral penicillin would reduce the incidence of documented infection due to Streptococcus pneumoniae in children with sickle cell anemia.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

For over 20 years children with sickle cell anemia have been known to have an increased susceptibility to severe bacterial infection, particularly due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Meningitis, pneumonia and septicemia due to this organism have been recognized as the major causes of death for these children, with children under three years of age being at highest risk. The annual incidence of pneumococcal septicemia among young children with sickle cell anemia appears to have remained remarkably constant over the last two decades at approximately 10 percent. This illness can often be fulminant, progressing from the onset of fever to death in less than 12 hours, with a case fatality rate ranging as high as 35 percent.

Penicillin prophylaxis has been advocated as a preventive measure against severe pneumococcal infections in children with sickle cell anemia. One study had shown that the risk of pneumococcal infection in these children could be reduced by the use of parenteral penicillin.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

Phase I was a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. One hundred and five patients were assigned to the penicillin group and 110 to placebo. The primary endpoint was a documented severe infection due to S. pneumoniae. The secondary endpoint was a severe infection due to an organism other than S. pneumoniae.

Because data were not available to define the age at which prophylactic penicillin could be safely discontinued, the NHLBI launched Phase II of the Prophylactic Penicillin Study beginning in 1987. Recruitment ended in August, 1993. The clinical phase of Phase II ended in August, 1994.

Phase II was a multi-center randomized trial to evaluate the hazards of discontinuing daily oral penicillin at the age of five years. Within three months of their fifth birthdays, all children were randomized to continue oral penicillin prophylaxis or to stop prophylaxis. Each child was followed for a minimum of two years. The primary endpoint was a comparison of documented pneumococcal infection in children continuing penicillin after five years of age versus children whose prophylaxis was stopped at five years of age. Ancillary studies conducted in subsets of patients included: the prevalence of colonization of the nasopharynx with antibiotic resistant microorangisms; and the relationship of antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination to the incidence of pneumococcal sepsis in this patient population.

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Phase 3

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 3 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

In the Phase I trial, Black children with sickle cell anemia aged 3 months to 3 years. In the Phase II trial, children with sickle cell anemia aged five years 3 months of age and younger who had received prophylactic penicillin for at least two yea

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Masking: Double

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • David Becton, University of Arkansas
  • Ann Bjornson, Gamble Institute of Medical Research
  • George Buchanan, University of Texas
  • Neil Grossman, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati
  • C. Holbrook, East Carolina University School of Medicine
  • Rathyi Iyer, University of Mississippi Medical Center
  • Karen Kalinyak, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati
  • Thomas Kinney, Duke University
  • Helen Maurer, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Scott Miller, New York Health Science Center
  • Charles Pegelow, University of Miami
  • Sergio Piomelli, Columbia University
  • Gregory Reaman, Children's Hospital National Medical Center
  • Alan Schwartz, Washington University School of Medicine
  • Elliott Vichinsky, Children's Hospital & Medical Center
  • Winfred Wang, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
  • Doris Wethers, St. Luke's Roosevelt Institute of Health Science
  • Gerald Woods, Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 1983

Study Completion

October 1, 1994

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 27, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 27, 1999

First Posted (Estimate)

October 28, 1999

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 25, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 24, 2016

Last Verified

October 1, 1994

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Pneumonia

Clinical Trials on penicillin

3
Subscribe