Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s most widespread diseases. Nearly one third of the world’s population has been exposed and 8 million people annually develop active TB. For those who are infected and have latent TB, the treatment is a grueling nine-month-long course with a drug called isoniazid. Now, researchers from McGill University are revealing the results of a multi-national study which shows that four months of treatment with another TB drug, rifampin, is better than the traditional treatment, and confers less liver side effects. Because of this, people are more likely to complete the full course of treatment.
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Tags: isoniazid, mcgill, rifampin, TB, tuberculosis
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:47 am
PLease inform me as to howto protect myself from tb. gratefully Cathy
January 26th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
My son has been diagnosed with TB and they are going to start him on this 9 month treatment program,can you tell me more @ this and can the rest of our family get TB? What pre-cautions do we need to take?
Thank you Linda Hughes
January 26th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
My 2 year old was exposed to tuberculosis and she took medication for 6months. Her doctor said 6 months will do but, I hear from people in different situations that the med. is to be taken for 9 months. I still wonder if my toddler needs to take it for 3 more months although she finished her 6 months in October 08…Do you think she cured?