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This Italian multicentre retrospective cohort study using target trial emulation demonstrated that clarithromycin is more effective than azithromycin in reducing severe disease, oxygen therapy requirement, ICU admission, and complications in infants hospitalized for pertussis.
Despite azithromycin’s widespread use, clarithromycin showed a significantly lower odds of severe pertussis (odds ratio 1.80, 95% CI 1.01-3.21) in propensity-score-weighted analyses.
