Treatment of Tuberculosis

Treatment - Drug - DOT

Isoniazid tablets may be prescribed as part of a multi-drugs attack on TB.

People that are found to have TB (active disease) are treated using antibacterial drugs, those that are infectious are isolated for two weeks after starting their drug treatment. After treatment has begun, the task of contact tracing begins, which is determining if the infected person has infected other people.

The drugs used in the fight against TB are Isoniazid (INH), Rifampin (RMP), Pyrazinamide (PZA), Ethambutol (EMP), and Streptomycin (STREP). During treatment a patient will take a combination of these drugs because the TB bacteria may be resistant to one or more of the drugs. It is only through the use of multiple kinds of antibiotics that you can be sure to kill every bacterial cell.

Rifampin is another drug that might be used to fight TB.

These short-course anti-tuberculosis drugs are normally prescribed for a period between 6 and 8 months. It is critical to take the prescribed amount of each at the prescribed intervals, and for the prescribed length of time. If you take the drugs for the full length of time prescribed by your doctor, you will be cured!

For more information on these and other respiratory drugs, see the Canadian Lung Association's website "Prescription Drugs for Lung Diseases", at http://www.lung.ca/drugs/