New York : Prescribing antibiotic doses once or twice a week for tuberculosis (TB) treatment are more likely to lead to drug resistant strains than daily antibiotic regimens, new research has found, says IANS.
The finding could lead to better treatment of the roughly 10 million people worldwide who fall ill with tuberculosis each year, the researchers said.
“We wanted to address open questions regarding treatment for tuberculosis,” said study first author Elsje Pienaar from University of Michigan in the US.
“First, can we use the antibiotics that we have in a better way? And if we can change the ones that we have in some way, what modifications would be best?,” Pienaar said.
The study looked into how treatments with the standard antibiotics isoniazid and rifampin fare when taken according to different regimens approved by the US Center for Disease Control.
These include larger doses a few times per week and smaller daily doses.