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Unlabelled: Medicaton used to treat tuberculosis is responsible for numerous side effects that have a major impact on patient's health, with a negative influence on the quality of life. Patients of all ages must be trained in order to recognize all the adverse effects and the undesirable reactions produced by antituberculosis medication. We report the case of a 24-year-old woman with generalized psoriasis and psoriatic arthropathy who was treated against tuberculosis. After 7 days of treatment with isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamid she had severe allergic reaction with generalized pruritus and rash which were difficult to control with antiallergic treatment., Conclusions: Particular to this case is the absence in patient's history of the allergic reactions to medication. The re-establishment of treatment of tuberculosis was done by clinical trials and the patient had responded to only three drugs: isoniazid, rifampicin and ofloxacin, so the patient received an individual treatment due to adverse reactions to tuberculosis medications.

Thirty cases were studied, of children aged between 4 and 5 years, with latent or manifest (overt) pulmonary tuberculosis under treatment with etambutol (EMB) administered intermittently (2/7) in amounts of 25 mg. per kg of body weight. Ophtalmological investigations consisted in evaluation of the visual acuity, of the visual field, of the chromatic sense, pupillary reflexes and an examination of the fundus. These were performed before the start of the treatment, then at 3 and 6 months after the treatment was begun. No cases of toxic ocular manifestations was recorded. The results are discussed on the basis of data from the literature, and care is recommended in the administration of etambutol.

The immediate and the late results are analyzed, of resumption of treatment with RMP and EMB in 50 patients with relapsing pulmonary tuberculosis that had not been treated with these drugs previously. After the first year of treatment negativation of the sputum by microscopy and culture was obtained in 45 of the patients, while 5 remained still positive. In the following two years 7 of the negative patients became positive again and finally 8 were solved completely and 4 became chronically ill. The most important of the unfavourable factors were simultaneous radiological and bacteriological relapses and chronic alcoholism. There was no primary or secondary resistance against the drugs used in the treatment. Intolerance to the drugs, although frequent, did not significantly affect the course of the treatment, especially because it occurred only at a later time.

A number of 75 adults with pulmonary tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis positive at microscopy and in cultures) were randomly selected for one of the following therapeutical regimens, administered under close surveillance in hospital during 3 months: --INH5 mg/kg body weight+RMP10 mg/kg body weight+EMB25 mg/kg body weight daily; --INH15 mg/kg body weight+RMP10 mg/kg body weight+EMB40 mg/kg body weight, intermitent administration (2/7). Disappearance of the Mycobacterium from the sputum was studied quantitatively both by microscopy and in cultures; the sputum samples were collected in the morning three days running every week during the period of 13 weeks surveillance. Processing of the results showed that in the material studied the initial intermittent administration of the drugs was just as efficient as daily administration irrespective of the criterion used for comparison (moment of negativation, rate of disappearance of the Mycobacterium and/or proportion of negative cases, dynamics of the decrease in the number of bacilli eliminated in the course of the treatment, regression of the radiologic alterations).

The results were analysed, of the results obtained by the associated treatment with rifampicin and etambutol 2/7 for at least 6 months in 53 patients with silico-tuberculosis and positive bacteriologic tests. Only two of the patients in the group were in the 1-st stage of silicosis while half of the patients had cavities. Also 50% of the patients had strains showing resistance to various drugs. Only five of the patients did not receive chemotherapy before the start of the study. Immediate favourable bacteriological results were noted in 84.9% of the cases and late positive results represented 54.7%, while radiologic improvement was noted in 33.9% of the cases. The percentage of good results was higher in patients without cavities but it was not influenced by the stage of silicosis development.