Findings from the 6-month ZeNix trial indicated that a three-drug regimen for highly resistant tuberculosis was safer and just as effective when it included reduced doses or shorter durations of linezolid, researchers reported.Caitlyn Stulpin
The rise ofdrug-resistant tuberculosis(TB) threatens to derail decades of progress in the fight against the disease, experts warn in a new report published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.TB kills more people worldwide every year than any other infectious disease, includingHIV/AIDS. In 2015 a...
director of the Beijing-based Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, said that it is necessary to develop TB medicines with fewer side effects that are easy to apply, making it more likely for patients to adhere to treatment.
Known as the BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid) regimen, 109 participants were enrolled for treatment with a three-drug, six-month, all-oral regimen which is significantly shorter, more efficacious and tolerable than conventional treatment. Side effects were manageable and resolved in the ...
in Nepal found that despite high perceived benefits, some TB patients remained non-adherent to treatment due to perceived barriers, such as drug side effects and lack of family support [21]. This suggests that although people realise the benefits of treatment, success in motivating adherence also...
Multidrug-resistant TB is most prevalent in India, Russia, Brazil, China and South Africa. It can be cured with a lengthy two-year drug regime, butonly a quarterof the 480,000 people estimated to have the disease get diagnosed. Of these, only 50 per cent are cured, in part because the...
Other reasons for poor adherence may include “forgetting to take medication, being away from home, drug side effects, being unable to go to the health facilities on the date of appointment and being hospitalised” [19]p.10. Ultimately, poor treatment adherence can result in treatment failure,...
(IRIS). TB in patients with HIV infection generally responds well to usual regimens when in vitro testing shows drug susceptibility. However, for multidrug-resistant TB strains, outcomes are not as favorable because the drugs are more toxic and less effective. Therapy for susceptible TB should be...
Tuberculosis (TB) is100% curable if treated with the approved four drug combinationfor a minimum of six months. You will start feeling better within two to four weeks after starting treatment. However, it is very important to complete the whole course of antibiotics or; else the disease will...
People infected with drug-resistant TB strains may have a lower risk of being cured, depending on which drugs they are resistant to and how much lung damage they have before starting effective treatment. More than half of people with active TB will die within five years if they do not recei...