Specific drug for tuberculosis

Many people are afraid of tuberculosis, a chronic infectious disease caused by bacteria, the most common way of transmission is through saliva. At present, there is no specific drug for tuberculosis in clinical practice. In addition to chemotherapy, you also need to take medicines corresponding to the period of your condition, do regular check-ups, and take medicines throughout the whole course. Giving up the treatment for three days and resting for two days will have a great impact on your disease. This article introduces the corresponding drugs for each stage of tuberculosis. Let’s take a look.

Treatment of tuberculosis:

1. Anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy:

(I) Principles of chemotherapy: early use, combination use, appropriate dosage, regular use and full course of medication.

(B) Chemotherapy methods 1. Among the initial cases that were not treated with anti-tuberculosis drugs, some had positive sputum smears for tuberculosis and the chemotherapy regimens used also varied in strength. For initially smear-positive cases, regardless of whether the culture is positive or not, a 6-month shortened regimen based on a combination of isoniazid (H), rifampicin (R) and pyrazinamide (Z) can be used. The sputum bacteria often turn negative quickly, the treatment course is short, and follow-up management is convenient. (1) During the first two months of the intensive phase, streptomycin (or ethambutol), isoniazid, rifampicin, and pyrazinamide are used once daily. During the next four months, isoniazid and rifampicin are continued once daily, which is written as 2(E)HRZ/4HR.

(2) The drug can also be taken every other day during the consolidation period (i.e., three times a week), written as 2(E)HRZ/4H3R3.

(3) Intermittent medication can also be used throughout the course, written as 23(E3)H3R3Z3/4H3R3.

(4) Isoniazid, streptomycin, and aminosalicylic acid (or ethambutol) are used during the intensive phase, and the two drugs are used for 10 months during the consolidation phase, written as 2H(E)/10H(E).

(5) During the intensive phase, isoniazid and streptomycin are used for one month, and during the consolidation phase, the drugs are used twice a week for 11 months.

The following regimen is generally used for retreatment cases

(1) 2(E)HRZ/4HR, supervise chemotherapy and ensure regular medication. If the sputum bacteria have not turned negative at the end of the 6-month treatment, the consolidation period can be extended for 2 months. If the patient does not recover after prolonged treatment, the following retreatment regimen can be used.

(2) Patients who fail initial routine treatment may have 23H3R3Z3E3/6H3R3E3.

(3) For patients with chronic bacterial excretion, sensitive first-line drugs can be used in combination with second-line drugs, such as kanamycin (K), propylthioisoniazide (1321h), capreomycin (C), etc., and treatment should be carried out under close observation of side effects. The appropriate course of treatment is 6-12 months. Fluoroquinolones (ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, arfloxacin, etc.) have moderate anti-tuberculosis effects and can be added to combination regimens in cases where the patient is resistant to commonly used drugs.

2. Symptomatic treatment: The toxic symptoms of tuberculosis can usually disappear within 1-2 weeks of effective anti-tuberculosis treatment and no special treatment is required. Sometimes the toxic symptoms are too severe, or the pleural effusion cannot be absorbed quickly, and glucocorticoids (commonly prednisone, 15-20 mg per day, divided into 3-4 times orally) can be added while using effective anti-tuberculosis drugs.