directly observed therapy

Leading activist chides TB world for complacency in the face of MDR and now XDR-TB

You are more invested in the DOTS model, which has failed multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and now which is breeding XDR-TB, than you are in saving lives, Mark Harrington, Executive Director for the Treatment Action Campaign told TB (tuberculosis) experts attending a symposium held on Tuesday by the Stop TB Partnership of the World Health Organization. The symposium was held the day before the 37th Union World Conference on Lung Health, which is being held this week from November 1-4th in Paris.

Seeing pill-swallowing no TB cure

Directly observed therapy (DOT) -- a controversial technique in which health care workers or community volunteers watch patients swallow tablets -- does not have a significant impact on tuberculosis patients, according to a new report from The Cochrane Library. Still, DOT remains a central tenet of international recommendations for curbing the spread of treatment-resistant bacteria, and experts say they are unconvinced that cliniciansshould abandon the technique.

TB treatment: four month continuation phase better than six months

The publication of an international study shows that six months of continuation phase treatment with isoniazid and ethambutol results in higher rates of relapse after treatment when compared to a four month continuation phase using isoniazid and rifampicin. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the United Kingdom Medical Research Council designed the study.