Articulo Impetigo
Articulo Impetigo
Articulo Impetigo
Abstract
Background: Impetigo is a common and contagious bacterial skin infection, affecting children worldwide, but it is
particularly prevalent in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. In New Zealand, widespread prescribing of
the topical antibiotic fusidic acid had led to an increase in antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus.
Alternative treatments are urgently being sought, and as impetigo is a superficial infection, it has been suggested
that topical antiseptics such as hydrogen peroxide or simple wound care alone may treat impetigo while avoiding
the risk of increased antimicrobial resistance.
Methods: This protocol for a non-inferiority, single-blind randomised controlled trial compares topical fusidic acid
with topical hydrogen peroxide and with simple wound care in the treatment of childhood impetigo. Participants
are randomised to one of the three treatments for 5 days. The primary outcome is clinical improvement assessed
through paired photographs analysed by graders blinded to treatment arm. The trial is based in school health
clinics in an urban centre in New Zealand. Comparison of antimicrobial resistance patterns pre- and post-treatment
is also performed.
Discussion: Special note is made of the need to involve the communities most affected by impetigo in the design
and implementation of the clinical trial to recruit the children most in need of safe and effective treatments.
* Correspondence: Spri856@aucklanduni.ac.nz
†
Emma Best and Alison Leversha contributed equally to this work.
1
Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Starship Children’s Health, Auckland, New
Zealand
2
University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© The Author(s). 2022 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if
changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons
licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons
licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain
permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the
data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Primhak et al. Trials (2022) 23:108 Page 2 of 9
Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) 12616000356460. Registered on March
10, 2016
Protocol amendment number: 05
EB and AL contributed equally as senior authors.
the groups most affected by impetigo in NZ. There are Eligibility criteria
marked inequities in health outcomes for Māori and Pa- Children meeting the eligibility criteria are identified
cific Island children, and it is critical that health research and their caregivers contacted to explain the study and
is focused on understanding and addressing these in- obtain consent. Caregivers must provide verbal informed
equities. Impetigo is contributing to inequity in health consent before any study procedures occur. This is then
outcomes and therefore is crucially important to Māori followed by written informed consent (see Appendix 1
and Pacific health. With the burden of skin disease af- for sample of informed consent form).
fecting predominately Māori and Pacific children, appro-
priate cultural engagement with these communities was Inclusion criteria
recognised as a key factor, both for successful trial com- Children eligible for the trial must comply with all of the
pletion and ensuring meaningful results which will be following prior to randomisation:
acceptable, generalisable, and implementable for those
most affected by impetigo. 1. Enrolled in one of the participating school clinics
2. Mild-to-moderate impetigo
Objectives 3. Aged 5–13 years
We hypothesize both simple wound care and topical
hydrogen peroxide are non-inferior to topical fusidic Exclusion criteria
acid in the treatment of impetigo.
Therefore, the aims of this clinical trial are: 1. Severe impetigo requiring oral antibiotics; defined
as extensive lesions (> 3 lesions or > 5% body
1) To compare the effectiveness of topical fusidic acid surface area), presence of cellulitis, or fever > 38.5
with topical hydrogen peroxide and simple wound °C
care in the treatment of mild-to-moderate impetigo 2. Children who are immunocompromised
in a community with both high rates of impetigo 3. Known allergy to study drugs
and increasing fusidic acid resistance. 4. Current use, or use within the previous 5 days, of
topical or oral antimicrobials
2) To examine potential changes in the antimicrobial 5. Commencement of antimicrobials for other reasons
resistance of skin pathogens in response to these differ- during the trial period
ent treatments for impetigo. 6. Failure to obtain informed consent for
randomisation or withdrawal of consent
Trial design
TIARA is an open label, single-blind, non-inferiority Excluded children continue with treatment according
randomised controlled trial with three parallel treatment to the existing school health clinic standard operating
groups. The primary endpoint is clinical improvement at procedures (SOP).
seven days. Randomisation is performed 1:1:1 within
each school clinic. Intervention
All lesions are cleaned with saline and scabs gently re-
Methods: participants, interventions, and moved. For the group randomised to fusidic acid, 2%
outcomes fusidic acid ointment (DP Fusidic Acid, Douglas Phar-
Study setting maceuticals Ltd, Auckland, NZ) is applied topically, and
Auckland city has a temperate climate and is a large for the hydrogen peroxide arm, 1% hydrogen peroxide
urban centre of 1.6 million people. Primary school cream (Crystaderm, AFT Pharmaceuticals, Auckland,
health clinics serve the more socioeconomically disad- NZ) is applied topically. In both cases, an adequate
vantaged areas within two of the three district health amount to cover each lesion is used and dressing(s) then
boards in the Auckland region: Auckland and Counties applied. A tube of appropriate topical medication is sup-
Manukau. These health clinics provide primary care, in- plied for the child and/or caregivers to continue applica-
cluding free skin and throat infection management, to tions twice daily for 5 days with dressing changes.
students aged 5–13 years [17, 18]. The school nurses Participants allocated to simple hygiene measures re-
running the clinics are invited to participate in this study ceive no medication but a dressing is applied following
to provide a potential eligible population of ~ 10,000 en- the cleaning of the lesion(s). All participants are pro-
rolled students. Due to their over representation of vided with supplies to allow them to clean and redress
socio-economic disadvantage, over 90% of children in the wound twice daily for 5 days. Low adherent wound
the schools are of Māori or Pacific Island ethnicity, and pads are used so as not to interfere with the wound heal-
there is a high rate of impetigo. ing process. In all groups, scabies is treated if present.
Primhak et al. Trials (2022) 23:108 Page 4 of 9
Modifications 5 days. Two days after enrolment into the trial (day 2), a
All adverse effects, including pain, itch, or allergy to safety check is performed by the school nurse to assess
study medication, will be reported; the study medication for rapid worsening of the impetigo or for adverse ef-
must be withdrawn and the patient changed to routine fects. The safety check can be performed between days 2
treatment as per the SOP of the health clinic. If clinical and 4 if necessary to allow for day 2 falling on a week-
deterioration while on study medication is identified by end. Caregivers are asked to contact the school nurse
the school nurse, the study medication may be with- between visits, if they have concerns about the lesion
drawn at the nurse’s discretion. In this case, the patient getting worse. Seven days after commencing the trial
will be changed to routine treatment as per the standard (day 7), the participant is re-assessed by the nurse. A
operating procedures of the health clinic. second set of photographs and repeat bacterial swab is
taken from the same lesion as originally documented.
Adherence Both child and caregiver complete a verbal question-
Face-to-face reminders of adherence are provided by naire. Caregivers can withdraw a participant from the
nurses at both day 0 and day 2 visits, and adherence over study at any stage. For the full schedule of interventions
the trial period is assessed on days 2 and 7. Sticker charts and assessments see Figs. 1 and 2.
are provided for each participant to encourage adherence.
Sample size
Participant timeline On the assumption of non-inferiority between hygiene
On the first visit (day 0), demographic data, inclusion measures and topical fusidic acid and between topical
and exclusion criteria, and verbal consent are obtained. hydrogen peroxide and fusidic acid, and a predicted effi-
All lesions are cleaned and the single largest lesion is cacy of fusidic acid of 80%, we require 160 patients in
photographed using a digital camera, and a bacterio- each intervention group. This provides 80% power and a
logical swab is taken from the same lesion as the photo- one-sided α of 0·05 to show non-inferiority (10% margin)
graph. The patient is then randomised and the between each group and topical fusidic acid. In order to
appropriate treatment is commenced and continued for allow for 10% loss to follow-up and subsequent
caregivers withdrew consent to participate will not be in- an appropriate cohort of children at high risk of
cluded in the analysis. impetigo.
To investigate predictors of treatment success, back- Engaging authentically with Māori and Pacific commu-
wards stepwise random-effects logistic regression will be nities is vital to the success of this project. As outlined
performed on a priori and other variables identified as above, Māori and Pacific communities living in New
different in baseline characteristics between randomisa- Zealand face barriers to accessing appropriate and timely
tion groups. primary healthcare for potentially preventable conditions
such as impetigo [14]. Research is critical to address
Data monitoring these inequities and should be undertaken in a culturally
A data safety monitoring board (DSMB) has been con- appropriate way using a partnership approach with
vened. This comprises an international expert in impe- Māori and Pacific researchers. School nurses who are
tigo, a local expert in paediatric infectious diseases, and known and trusted by the families, and representative of
a statistician. An interim safety analysis blinded to allo- the school communities, will be important to ensure ef-
cation will be performed after recruitment of 150 partici- fective engagement.
pants. If concerns are expressed, the unblinded data may The National Hauora Coalition (NHC), a Māori pri-
be made available to the DSMB on request. Stopping cri- mary health organisation, was consulted early in study
teria may include slow accrual, poor data quality, un- design. A Māori nurse leader (AG) directed key trial im-
acceptable adverse events, and emerging information plementation and engendered the support of the school
that makes the trial irrelevant. The DSMB will discuss nurses who represent both Māori and Pacific Island
the outcome of the analysis with the trial steering com- healthcare workers. Information leaflets have been pro-
mittee. The unblinded data, apart from the outcome of vided in multiple languages, including Te Reo Māori,
the DSMB decision, will not be made available to the au- Tongan, and Samoan, and nursing staff provide add-
thors prior to the completion of the trial and unblinding. itional verbal information as a more acceptable commu-
nication [14]. Specific acts of recognition and practical
reimbursements have been shown to contribute signifi-
Harms
cantly to a sense of value and reduce the financial strain
Any adverse event will be reported; these are defined as
when accessing healthcare [14]. To acknowledge this, a
any untoward medical occurrence in a subject without
gift (koha) of a NZ$20 supermarket voucher is offered to
regard to the possibility of a causal relationship after
each family after completion of the trial.
entry into the study and until the completion of the
Because of the large and disparate pool of recruiters, it
study. At day 2 and day 7 of the trial, a safety check is
is important that the primary outcome is as comparable
performed by the school nurse to assess for rapid wors-
and unbiased as possible. Digital images allow for cen-
ening of the impetigo or for adverse effects. If these
tralised assessment despite the distance between recruit-
occur, then the participant can be withdrawn from the
ing sites. However, this means the existing scoring
trial at the discretion of the nurse. On day 2 and day 7,
system (SIRS) is not practical as variables included in
participants and/or caregivers are directly questioned re-
the scoring such as warmth, pain, and itch are not
garding specific harms including itch, pain, redness, or
amenable to visual assessment alone. For this reason, as-
any other adverse effects of medication. Any require-
sessor defined scoring was used. Erythema is also one of
ment for additional medical intervention is considered a
the elements of the SIRS scoring system, and when
potential harm. All harms will be reported.
assessing children with darker skin, this is often underes-
timated [23], leading to minimisation of the severity of
Auditing lesions in those with darker skin. The use of digital im-
Regular visual review of the data will be performed by ages and multiple reviewers for the primary outcome
the lead investigator (SP) for completeness and quality aims to minimise the bias inherent in the majority of
of the data. previous studies on impetigo and provide a reproducible
outcome, consistent with real world improvement. This
Discussion remains an imperfect measure as it is dependent on
The aim of this study is to investigate the relative effect- good quality digital images and reviewer defined assess-
iveness of non-antibiotic management of impetigo in ment. Due to the visible difference in the topical medica-
children. The use of existing school health clinics lo- tions, neither school nurses nor participants could be
cated within the more socioeconomically deprived com- blinded to treatment. This introduces a potential elem-
munities in Auckland, NZ, allows access to a large ent of bias for those removed from the study early due
population of children within a community who might to clinical treatment failure. It was considered unfeasible
not otherwise seek medical help. This ensures access to to introduce a placebo medication to the simple wound
Primhak et al. Trials (2022) 23:108 Page 8 of 9
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affiliations.