title: Controlled clinical trial of four short-course regimens of chemotherapy for two durations in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis: first report: Third East African/British Medical Research Councils study.
abstract: A comparison was made between 4 regimens of chemotherapy given for 6 or 8 months, with a 6-month period of follow-up thus far. One regimen, which had a 2-month initial intensive phase of streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide followed by daily administration of thiacetazone and isoniazid, was very effective. Shortening the initial intensive 4-drug phase to 1 month produced a less successful regimen unless the continuation phase was twice-weekly administration of streptomycin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide. A regimen in which pyrazinamide was omitted from the initial intensive 2-month phase was also less effective. All patients were inpatients for 6 months to ensure that every dose of drug was fully supervised during this period. Increasing the total duration of chemotherapy from 6 months to 8 months was associated with a significant decrease in the early relapse rate in all 4 regimens, although the above differences between the regimen remained. The applicability of the findings is discussed.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007538:Isoniazid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011718:Pyrazinamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012008:Recurrence; D012293:Rifampin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013307:Streptomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013636:Tanzania; D013828:Thioacetazone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013997:Time Factors; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014454:Uganda; D015024:Zambia
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D011718:Pyrazinamide; D013828:Thioacetazone; D007538:Isoniazid; D012293:Rifampin; D013307:Streptomycin