title: Treatment of paediatric TB: revised WHO guidelines.
abstract: The World Health Organization has recently revised the recommended dosages of the main first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs for use in children. The recommended dosages and range of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol have been increased from the previous recommended dosages. Ethambutol is now recommended for use in children of all ages including those of less than 5 years of age. This review explains the rationale for these recent revisions. Children require higher dosages than adults to achieve the same serum concentrations. Available data in HIV-uninfected children suggest that the revised dosages are within limits that have a very low risk of toxicity. An important challenge will be to examine the impact of higher dosages on clinical response, drug-drug interactions and risk of toxicity in HIV-infected children.
authors.affiliation: Centre for International Child Health, University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics and Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. steve.graham@rch.org.au
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents