Cystic Fibrosis Research Study Completes Participant Recruitment

The CF START research study, sponsored by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and delivered at participating centres across the UK, has successfully completed recruitment of participants, 485 babies from across the UK.  CF START stands for the cystic fibrosis (CF) anti-staphylococcal antibiotic prophylaxis trial.  It is a randomised registry trial to assess the safety and efficacy of flucloxacillin as a longterm prophylaxis agent for infants with CF.

The aim of the CF START trial is determine the safest and most effective way to treat infants diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) with antibiotics.  Infants in the UK are prescribed an antibiotic, usually flucloxacillin, every day to prevent infection with a bacteria (bug) called Staphylococcus aureus (SA). Although this approach appears to help prevent SA infection, there is a worry that it may make earlier infection with other bugs, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PsA) more likely.

This trial is designed to test if infants with CF are more likely to get an earlier infection from PsA if they are taking flucloxacillin on a daily basis (“Prevent and Treat”) or antibiotics in a more targeted manner (“Detect and Treat”).

The Chief Investigator for the study, Kevin Southern, Professor of Child Health and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Alder Hey, said: “It is an amazing effort from families and our colleagues across the UK to recruit so many babies in the early stages of their lives.  As well as answering the important question above, we will also be able to follow these babies as they continue of their CF journey”.

The Clinical Research Division at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust would like to thank all our pariticipants and their carers, the participating centres and study teams involved in delivering this study across the UK, co-applicants who helped to design and monitor the study, and our key partners: the UK Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Liverpool Clinical Trials Centre (LCTC), University of Liverpool, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR HTA funding stream – NIHR131889).