Shorter Duration Treatment Regimen To Prevent Tuberculosis In HIV Patients

Synopsis Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of comorbidity in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV-infected people are at an increased risk of developing into active TB from latent TB. For instance, it is estimated that among new TB cases, 920,000 TB infections occurred in individuals who were co-infected with HIV. Furthermore, 23% of death due to TB infection were among HIV-coinfected patients.

Isoniazid is usually prescribed to patients with latent TB to prevent progression into active TB in patients with latent TB. Although this preventive therapy is effective, implementation is greatly limited due to the longer standard treatment regimen of 6 to 9 months, resulting in poor patient adherence and lower treatment completion rates. This week’s “ MED FACT ” discusses a phase 3, randomized, open-label, noninferiority trial from the New England Journal of…