FLACSAM

FLACSAM stands for Firstline Antimicrobials in Children with Complicated Severe Acute Malnutrition. The study compares antibiotics used in managing infections in children. This is a clinical trial comparing effectiveness of antibiotics used to treat children with complicated severe acute malnutrition.

It’s a common practice among clinicians to prescribe Ceftriaxone, a second line treatment medication for such children even before starting with a combination of a penicillin and Gentamycin as stipulated in the treatment guidelines.

Another observation has been that there is a tendency to prescribe Metronidazole for children with malnutrition in addition to other antibiotics yet there has not been any known scientific study pointing to the added benefit of such practice.

This study therefore employs a 2 by 2 multifactorial design to assess the relevance of Metronidazole in management of children with malnutrition and to also assess the suspected resistance that might come up as a result of prescribing antibiotics without following the established guidelines.