Latent TB is usually treated with one drug alone, 6 months of this drug Isoniazid has proven very effective in curing latent TB, the catch is that patients taking the drug have to do so exactly to schedule otherwise drug resistance rears its ugly head and the treatment may not be effective. And of course, like many drugs, there can be instances of side effects, particularly to the liver.
Active TB is usually treated with a cocktail of up to 4 drugs of which Isoniazid is one,once again strict adherence to the scheduled doses is very important.
In this regard, both for latent and active tB, the medical authorities prefer to administer the drugs under the DOTS regime (directly observed treatment short-course)wherby the patient takes the drugs whilst the medical professional is present, pain in the bum for the health workers but with many patients it is the only way to ensure their adherence to taking the drugs as prescribed.
New drug or other treatment options that shortened the treatment time for both latent and active TB would obviously be a big advance both by ensuring more adherence by the patients and saving a lot of time of the health workers.
We can only hope, the road taken to bring drugs to market is very long.
regards, EB
CST Price at posting:
$3.09 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
