ABSTRACT
Three female members of a family presented with tuberculous pleurisy over a 4-month period. All three responded to chemotherapy but identification of the source of infection proved difficult.
Subject(s)
Tuberculosis, Pleural/transmission , Adult , Child , Disease Outbreaks , Family Health , Female , Humans , Tuberculosis, Pleural/diagnosis , Tuberculosis, Pleural/drug therapyABSTRACT
Eighty nine adults with asthma who were receiving inhaled corticosteroid and bronchodilator treatment took part in a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial of nedocromil sodium, 4 mg four times daily by inhalation. During a run in period of two to four weeks corticosteroid treatment was reduced when possible to produce a comparable level of symptoms across the trial population. The test treatment was then taken for four weeks, with the severity of asthma recorded daily by patients and assessed at two weekly hospital visits. There was an improvement in symptoms in the patients taking nedocromil sodium by comparison with those having the placebo, the differences being significant for diary card PEF readings, asthma symptom scores, and bronchodilator usage at night. The mean difference between the two groups was 18 l/min for PEF, 0.42 for daytime asthma score, and 1.73 puffs in 24 hours for bronchodilator usage. These results suggest that asthmatic patients who require inhaled steroids show better control of their asthma with the addition of nedocromil sodium than of placebo over a four week period after reduction of the dosage of their inhaled steroids.
Subject(s)
Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use , Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/therapeutic use , Asthma/drug therapy , Quinolones/therapeutic use , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/adverse effects , Asthma/metabolism , Double-Blind Method , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Nedocromil , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Respiratory Function TestsABSTRACT
Patients with bacteriologically positive pulmonary tuberculosis were treated initially for an average of three and a half months with isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol and then a total of one year's treatment was completed with either rifampicin plus isoniazid (R+I) or with ethambutol plus isoniazid (E+I). 63 patients in each continuation group were followed up for at least one year, and no relapses occurred. Continuation treatment with E+I was as effective and acceptable as that with R+I and was much less costly.
Subject(s)
Ethambutol/administration & dosage , Isoniazid/administration & dosage , Rifampin/administration & dosage , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/drug therapy , Drug Therapy, Combination , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Serum-levels of rifampicin were investigated in patients receiving rifampicin alone or with other antituberculosis drugs. 2 g of probenecid given 30 min before 300 mg of rifampicin did not result in raising serum levels to more than half those achieved with the standard 600 mg dose of rifampicin. Hence probenecid should not be used to reduce rifampicin dosage in antituberculosis therapy.
