title: Evaluation of the 3-drug combination, Rifater, versus 4-drug therapy in the ambulatory treatment of tuberculosis in Cape Town.
abstract: The subjective impression among clinicians that the use of Rifater was causing delayed sputum conversion and increased drug resistance was tested in a prospective study. Adults in the Cape Town municipal area with a first episode of pulmonary tuberculosis were treated either with Rifater or a regimen consisting of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol. All patients who took the treatment as prescribed (67 Rifater, 39 the 4-drug regimen) converted to a negative sputum culture by the time 90 doses had been taken. The rates of inadequate compliance and of side-effects were similar in the two groups. Drug sensitivity testing of bacteria cultured from pre-treatment sputum specimens revealed an overall primary resistance rate of 4.84% in the population studied, sufficiently low to preclude any necessity for routine pre-treatment drug sensitivity testing.
authors.affiliation: City Health Department, Cape Town.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Macnab
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Bohmer
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Seager
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004977:Ethambutol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007538:Isoniazid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011718:Pyrazinamide / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012293:Rifampin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D013307:Streptomycin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; C087181:isoniazid, pyrazinamide, rifampin drug combination; D011718:Pyrazinamide; D004977:Ethambutol; D007538:Isoniazid; D012293:Rifampin; D013307:Streptomycin