SHORT-COURSE CHEMOTHERAPY FOR TUBERCULOSIS IN CHILDREN

In order to determine the efficacy of short course chemotherapy (SCC) for tuberculosis in children, 83 newly diagnosed cases in children < 12 years old were given SCC and were prospectively followed for 1-3 years. Seventy-one cases were treated for 6-9 months as they had mild to moderate involvement. Twelve eases were treated for 12 months as they had meningitis (7), disseminated tuberculosis (2), or miIiary tuberculosis (3). The results showed that none of the children, at the end of follow up, showed evidence of active tuberculosis. All children tolerated the drugs well, with side effects noticed being mild, namely transient hepatitis (4), vomiting (1), and skin rash (1). It is suggested that SCC for 6-9 months using isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin along with other drugs when necessary is highly effective is most cases of tuberculosis in children and has several advantages over conventional chemotherapy of 18 months or longer duration.