Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: Influence of Macrolide Maintenance Therapy and Bacterial Colonisation on Exacerbation Frequency and Progression of COPD, a Randomized Double-blind Placebo-controlled Trial
Brief Summary: To assess whether maintenance treatment with macrolide antibiotics in COPD patients with three or more exacerbations in the preceding year of inclusion can decrease the exacerbation rate in the year of treatment.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of COPD according to GOLD criteria (FEV1/FVC\<70%), classification into GOLD I (FEV1 70-100% predicted), GOLD II (FEV1 50-70% predicted), GOLD III (FEV1 30- 50% predicted) or GOLD IV (FEV1 ≤ 30% predicted)
* Age ≥ 18 years
* Three or more exacerbations of COPD in one year for which a course of prednisone and/or antibiotic therapy was started
* Clinically stable during 1 month. Patients have to be free of COPD exacerbation or respiratory tract infection within a month prior to involvement in the study and they should not have received a high dose of systemic glucocorticoids or antibiotics in this period
* Informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Use of antibiotics or high dose of systemic steroids within a month prior to involvement in the study.
* Addition of inhalation steroids to the patient's therapy regimen, shortly before entering the study.
* Pregnant or lactating women.
* Allergy to macrolides.
* Liver disease (alanine transaminase and/or aspartate transaminase levels 2 or more times the upper limit of normal).
* Asthma, defined as episodic symptoms of airflow obstruction which is reversible with bronchodilators, assessed with lung function testing.
* Presence of a malignancy which is clinically active.
* Bronchiectasis.
* Malignancy of any kind for which the subject is under treatment or is being monitored as part of follow up after treatment.
* Heart failure.
* Use of drugs which can adversely interact with macrolides and for which therapeutic monitoring cannot be undertaken.
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* 12-71 months of age.
* Recurrent significant wheezing in the past year (any of the following):

  * \>3 episodes, ≥1 of which was clinically significant\*; OR
  * \>2 clinically significant\* episodes; OR
  * \>4 months of daily controller therapy AND \>1 clinically significant\* episode.
  * \* Clinically significant episode: requiring any of the following: (1) systemic corticosteroids (oral or injectable), (2) unscheduled physician office visit, (3) ED visit, (4) urgent care visit, or (5) hospitalization.
* Up to date with immunizations, including varicella (unless the subject has already had clinical varicella). If the subject needs varicella vaccine, this will be arranged with the primary care physician and must be received prior to randomization.
* Willingness to provide informed consent by the child's parent or guardian.

Exclusion Criteria:

Participants who meet any of the following criteria are NOT eligible for enrollment, but may be re-enrolled if these exclusion criteria are resolved:

* \>4 courses of systemic corticosteroids in past 12 months.
* More than 1 hospitalization for wheezing illnesses within the preceding 12 months.
* Use of long-term controller medications for asthma, including inhaled corticosteroids, leukotriene modifiers, cromolyn/nedocromil, or theophylline for more than 8 months (cumulative use) in the past 12 months.
* Current use of higher than step 2 NAEPP asthma guideline therapy (e.g. medium-high dose ICS alone or combination therapy of low-medium-high dose ICS + LABA, montelukast, theophylline or cromolyn). NOTE: children who have evidence of well-controlled symptoms immediately preceding study entry while receiving Step 2 controller therapy (presence of self-reported symptoms on average no more than 2 times per week and less than 2 nights per month of nocturnal awakenings, requiring albuterol, during the 4 weeks preceding visit 1) may be enrolled and will have their controller therapy discontinued upon study entry.
* Use of OCS in the past 2 weeks.
* Daily symptoms or \>2 nocturnal awakenings, requiring albuterol, on average in the last 2 weeks.
* Use of antibiotics in the past month.
* Current treatment with antibiotics for diagnosed sinus disease.
* Participation presently or in the past month in another investigational drug trial.
* Evidence that the family may be unreliable or nonadherent, or may move from the clinical center area before trial completion.
* Contraindication of use of systemic corticosteroids or azithromycin.
* Clinically relevant gastroesophageal reflux.
* Concurrent medical conditions other than asthma that are likely to require oral or injectable corticosteroids during the study.
* If receiving allergy shots, change in dose within the past 3 months.

Participants who meet any of the following criteria are NOT eligible for enrollment, and may not be re-enrolled:

* Gestation less than late preterm as defined as birth before 34 weeks gestational age.
* Presence of lung disease other than asthma, such as cystic fibrosis and BPD. Evaluation during the screening process will assure that an adequate evaluation of other lung diseases has been performed.
* Presence of other significant medical illnesses (cardiac, liver, gastrointestinal, endocrine) that would place the study subject at increased risk of participating in the study.
* Immunodeficiency disorders.
* History of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation.
* History of hypoxic seizure.
* History of significant adverse reaction to any study medication ingredient.
* The child has significant developmental delay/failure to thrive, defined as crossing of two major percentile lines during the last year for age and gender. If a child plots less than the 10th percentile for age and gender, a growth chart for the previous year will be obtained from the child's primary care provider.
C: Inclusion Criteria:

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Pregnant Women aged 14 years and over at ≥ 24 weeks' viable gestation who will undergo unscheduled/non-elective cesareans with either:

1. Labor (spontaneous or induced): active labor (ongoing contractions and at least 4cm dilated or contractions for at least 4 hours with documented cervical change of ≥1cm dilatation or ≥50% effacement), or
2. Membrane rupture (standardized to duration of at least 4 hours prior to randomization).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patient unwilling or unable to provide consent
* Multiple pregnancy
* Known azithromycin (or other macrolide) allergy
* Vaginal delivery
* Elective or scheduled cesarean prior to labor or membrane rupture.
* Azithromycin, erythromycin or other macrolide antibiotic use within 7 days of enrollment.
* Clinical chorioamnionitis or any other active bacterial infection (e.g. pyelonephritis, pneumonia, abscess) at time of randomization.
* Patient is unable or unlikely to follow-up after delivery (e.g. no prenatal care or a non-resident patient)
* Fetal demise or major congenital anomaly
* Significant liver disease defined as known cirrhosis or elevated transaminases of at least 3-fold upper limit of normal
* Significant renal disease defined as serum creatinine known to be \>2.0 mg/dl or on dialysis.
* Active congestive heart failure (EF\<45%) or pulmonary edema
* Active diarrhea at time of delivery
* Any patient with significant electrolyte abnormalities such as hypokalemia or hypocalcemia
* Any patient with structural heart disease or arrhythmias, or taking any medications known to prolong the QT interval
* Patient currently being treated with efavirenz, nelfinavir or fluconazole
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* Clinical diagnosis of at least moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), as defined by the following Global Initiative for COPD (GOLD) criteria:

  1. Post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio of less than 70%
  2. Post-bronchodilator FEV1 less than 80% predicted, with or without chronic symptoms
* Cigarette consumption of 10 pack-years or more (may or may not be active smokers)
* Meets one or more of the following four conditions:

  1. Current, or history of, supplemental O2 use
  2. Received a course of systemic corticosteroids for respiratory problems within 1 year prior to study entry
  3. Visited an emergency department for a COPD exacerbation within 1 year prior to study entry
  4. Hospitalized for a COPD exacerbation within 1 year prior to study entry
* Willing to make return visits
* Available by telephone for duration of study
* Minimum of 4 weeks from the most recent acute exacerbation (have not received a course of systemic corticosteroids, an increased dose of chronically administered systemic corticosteroids, and/or antibiotics for an acute exacerbation for a minimum of 4 weeks from the time of study entry)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of asthma
* Diagnosis other than COPD that results in the patient being either medically unstable, or having a predicted life expectancy less than 3 years
* Special patient groups (i.e., prisoners, pregnant women, or institutionalized patients)
* Women who are at risk of becoming pregnant during the study (pre-menopausal) and who refuse to use acceptable birth control (i.e., hormone-based oral or barrier contraceptive) for the duration of the study
* History of hypersensitivity to any macrolide antibiotic
* Taking any of the following medications:

  1. Cisapride
  2. Ergot derivatives
  3. Pimozide
  4. Disopyramide
  5. Cyclosporin
  6. Tacrolimus
  7. Nelfinavir
  8. Bromocriptine
  9. Hexobarbital
* Corrected QT interval (QTc) on electrocardiogram exceeding 440 ms
* Taking rifabutin or rifampin
* Chronic hepatic insufficiency
* Chronic renal insufficiency
* Diagnosis of bronchiectasis (defined as production of greater than one-half cup of purulent sputum/day)
* If, for either ear, formal audiometric testing in a sound booth results in a pure tone average (i.e., the average of the thresholds for the 4 frequencies 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000) exceeding 50 decibel (dB), or if the threshold at any one frequency exceeds 60 dB, then the participant will be counseled by the audiologist concerning hearing aids and/or referral to an otolaryngologist. In addition, the audiologist may discuss with the participant whether or not to continue in the study. Following the examination and counseling, the participant will also discuss whether or not to continue in the study with one of the study investigators. If it is found that a participant's pure tone average in the two ears differs by more than 15 dB, or if the difference in the two ears for any one frequency exceeds 20 dB, then the participant will not be eligible for randomization into the study unless cleared by an otolaryngologist

Answer: A