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Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::next() should either be compatible with Iterator::next(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2348 of /var/www/webmd/apps/mdedge/htdocs/includes/database/database.inc).
Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::key() should either be compatible with Iterator::key(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2348 of /var/www/webmd/apps/mdedge/htdocs/includes/database/database.inc).
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Applied Evidence
When guideline treatment of asthma fails, consider a macrolide antibiotic
Table 27,15 outlines selected long-term (≥ 3 months) macrolide dosing schedules in the management of asthma. Consider a trial of azithromycin for your patients
whose asthma is refractory (poorly controlled persistent asthma), despite treatment with either an ICS and LABA combination or an ICS and long-acting muscarinic antagonist combination; and
who have new-onset asthma.
At press time, the European Respiratory Journal published a patient-level meta-analysis that demonstrates that maintenance use of azithromycin decreases exacerbations in adults with asthma. To learn more, go to https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/54/5/1901381
Last, there is no evidence for or against prescribing azithromycin for patients who have chronic asthma that is not refractory but is uncontrolled because they are not being treated according to guidelines.
*Data available from the author upon request. See “Correspondence,” at end of article.
CORRESPONDENCE David L. Hahn, MD, MS, Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, 1100 Delaplaine Court, Madison, WI 53715; dlhahn@wisc.edu.