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South Africa: Important TB Drug As Effective at Lower Dose, Study Finds
spotlight, 26 July 2021
The treatment of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (DR-TB) has been transformed over the last decade with treatment becoming more effective, safer, and treatment duration in… Read more »
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Africa: Three-Drug Combo 'Cures 90% of Severe TB Cases'
SciDev.Net, 21 April 2021
A three-drug regimen for treating drug-resistant TB strains cured 90 per cent of patients and cut down treatment period from about 20 months to six months, a conference heard. Read more »
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Africa: Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Trial Ends Enrolment After Positive Initial Data
MSF, 24 March 2021
London - A trial aiming to find a better treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has stopped enrolling patients early after its independent data safety and… Read more »
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South Africa: 400 People in SA With Highly Drug-Resistant TB to Get New Three-Drug Regimen
spotlight, 27 January 2021
Treatment of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (DR-TB) in South Africa has been transformed over the last decade. Most people with DR-TB no longer have to take daily injections… Read more »
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South Africa: Patients in South Africa to Access Six-Month, All-Oral Treatment for Highly Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
TB Alliance, 10 December 2020
TB Alliance welcomes the Wits Health Consortium and the South African National Department of Health (DoH)’s announcement of an initiative to provide a new, shorter treatment… Read more »
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TB Alliance, 4 August 2020
PRETORIA (3 August 2020)—Pretomanid, a novel compound developed by the non-profit organization TB Alliance, has been granted a conditional marketing authorisation by the… Read more »
Important Tuberculosis Drug as Effective at Lower Dosage - Study
In a finding that may help further reduce side effects, new research has found that the dosage of the drug linezolid can be lowered without compromising how well it works. Together with another drug called bedaquiline, linezolid has been responsible for much of the recent progress in developing treatment for drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (DR-TB), write Tiyese Jeranji and Marcus Low for Spotlight.
Current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines recommend a "short" regimen of nine to 11 months for uncomplicated forms of DR-TB. This short regimen includes bedaquiline, but not linezolid. For more complicated or more drug-resistant forms of TB, the WHO recommends a "long" regimen of 18 to 20 months.
Though the exact composition of such longer regimens varies, they typically include both bedaquiline and linezolid as part of a regimen comprising at least four different drugs. Linezolid is also included in both South Africa's shorter and longer regimens for various forms of DR-TB.
InFocus
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Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest infectious diseases in recorded history. Most people who are ill with TB live in low- and middle-income countries where this disease is ... Read more »
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A team of scientists, including those from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, have developed a new diagnostic methodology enabling a non-invasive, fast and highly ... Read more »
