The WHO guidelines of 2011 have recommended a long drug regimen of 20 months for the treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). However, a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that a shorter regimen of 9 to 11 months works equally well as the longer regimen in MDR-TB patients. These are the results of the first stage of the phase 3 STREAM (Standard Treatment Regimen of Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs for Patients with MDR-TB).
It showed that in patients with rifampin-resistant TB susceptible to fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides, a shorter treatment regimen was noninferior to the standard regimen, producing a favorable outcome in 79% of participants while the longer treatment was found to be effective in 80% of the patients. The shorter regimen tested in the STREAM trial consisted of high-dose moxifloxacin, clofazimine, ethambutol,…
