Abstract

Tuberculosis is usually arrested by prolonged uninterrupted administration of a combination of isoniazid, sodium aminosalicylate (PAS) and streptomycin. Should this fail because of the emergence of drug-resistant organisms or intractable drug hypersensitivity, a combination including or entirely made up of ‘second-line’ drugs such as ethionamide, cycloserine, pyrazinamide, viomycin or kanamycin may be used. Two new ‘second-line’ drugs are prothionamide (Trevintix - M & B) and capreomycin (Dista).