Updated: 13 July 2022
Authored by Anonymous
Treatment of multidrug-resistant and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) is difficult. The average proportion of MDR/RR-TB with a successful treatment was less than 60% globally in past 15 years.
A 9-month regimen piloted in Bangladesh comprised high-dose gatifloxacin, clofazimine, ethambutol and pyrazinamide throughout, supplemented by kanamycin, protionamide and high-dose isoniazid during an intensive phase heralded the era of short course chemotherapy for the treatment of MDR/RR-TB.
This so-called Bangladesh regimen achieved a high treatment success proportion in several settings and has been shown to be non-inferior to the long regimens recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the STREAM clinical trial (N Engl J Med 2019;380:1201-1213).
