The Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

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Abstract
Appropriate chemotherapy must be received by the patient if the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis is to be successful. The choice of the antituberculous regimen depends on the susceptibility and number of organisms infecting the patient and the side effects and cost of the drugs. The patient's life-style and the resources available in the community need to be considered to ensure compliance with the prescribed chemotherapy. If treatment is to be unsupervised, meaning that each dose is not actually witnessed by a health provider, a daily isoniazid and ethambutol hydrochloride treatment for 18 months or daily isoniazid and rifampin treatment for nine months is suggested. If each dose of chemotherapy is to be directly supervised, necessary for the noncompliant patient, then the following regimens are recommended: intermittent isoniazid and ethambutol, isoniazid and streptomycin, or intermittent isoniazid and rifampin following an initial period of daily therapy. (Arch Intern Med 139:1391-1395, 1979)