@article {1433742,
	title = {Azithromycin for prevention of exacerbations of COPD},
	journal = {N Engl J Med},
	volume = {365},
	number = {8},
	year = {2011},
	month = {2011 Aug 25},
	pages = {689-98},
	abstract = {BACKGROUND: Acute exacerbations adversely affect patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Macrolide antibiotics benefit patients with a variety of inflammatory airway diseases.

METHODS: We performed a randomized trial to determine whether azithromycin decreased the frequency of exacerbations in participants with COPD who had an increased risk of exacerbations but no hearing impairment, resting tachycardia, or apparent risk of prolongation of the corrected QT interval.

RESULTS: A total of 1577 subjects were screened; 1142 (72\%) were randomly assigned to receive azithromycin, at a dose of 250 mg daily (570 participants), or placebo (572 participants) for 1 year in addition to their usual care. The rate of 1-year follow-up was 89\% in the azithromycin group and 90\% in the placebo group. The median time to the first exacerbation was 266 days (95\% confidence interval [CI], 227 to 313) among participants receiving azithromycin, as compared with 174 days (95\% CI, 143 to 215) among participants receiving placebo (P,
	keywords = {Aged, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Azithromycin, Bacterial Infections, Drug Resistance, Bacterial, Female, Humans, Macrolides, Male, Middle Aged, Nasopharynx, Prospective Studies, Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive, Treatment Outcome},
	issn = {1533-4406},
	doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa1104623},
	author = {Albert, Richard K and Connett, John and Bailey, William C and Casaburi, Richard and Cooper, J Allen D and Criner, Gerard J and Curtis, Jeffrey L and Dransfield, Mark T and Han, MeiLan K and Lazarus, Stephen C and Make, Barry and Marchetti, Nathaniel and Martinez, Fernando J and Madinger, Nancy E and McEvoy, Charlene and Niewoehner, Dennis E and Porsasz, Janos and Price, Connie S and Reilly, John and Scanlon, Paul D and Sciurba, Frank C and Scharf, Steven M and Washko, George R and Woodruff, Prescott G and Anthonisen, Nicholas R}
}