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Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the tubercle bacillus. It is characterized by the formation of abnormal growths called tubercles, abscesses, fiber-like tissue, tissue deterioration, and calcium deposition in affected organs. The infection commonly affects the respiratory system, but may also involve other body organs. The effectiveness and toxicity of a drug regimen for treating TB was evaluated. The regimen consisted of daily administration of isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and streptomycin for two weeks, followed by higher doses of these antituberculosis agents twice weekly for six weeks, and the administration of isoniazid and rifampin twice weekly for the last 18 weeks of TB drug therapy. A total of 62 doses of medication was given over a 26-week period. Of 125 patients with TB, 101 had TB of the lung, 7 had TB affecting the lung and other sites, and 17 had TB in organs other than the lung. Seventy-one patients had a history of alcoholism. The infection cleared in all of the TB patients within 20 weeks. Two patients experienced relapses of TB 6 and 56 months, respectively, after completing therapy. Adverse drug effects included hyperuricemia or high blood levels of uric acid due to pyrazinamide, increased levels of the enzymes aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase, skin disorders, nausea, and dizziness. The results demonstrate that the 62-dose, twice-weekly tuberculous treatment drug regimen is effective and safe. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Recent outbreaks of tuberculosis around the country have rekindled interest in this disease. Highlights of recent tuberculosis research include the risks for exposure to health care workers, the importance of using preventive chemotherapy for previously infected patients, and the use of clinically administered combination chemotherapy. Health care workers who have been previously infected fortunately run little risk of becoming re-infected. However, 16-100% of hospital personnel who are newly exposed to tuberculosis risk becoming infected. It is now advised that patients and health care workers who have tested positive for tuberculosis in the past, but who have not been recently exposed, be do not always need to be treated with preventive chemotherapy. Recent research also suggests that treatment for new cases of tuberculosis include a combination dose of chemotherapy given to the patient in a clinical setting.