Regimens to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: past, present and future perspectives
Over the past few decades, treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR)/extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) has been challenging because of its prolonged duration (up to 20–24 months), toxicity, costs and sub-optimal outcomes. After over 40 years of neglect, two new drugs (bedaquiline and d...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Respiratory Society
2019-05-01
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| Series: | European Respiratory Review |
| Online Access: | http://err.ersjournals.com/content/28/152/190035.full |
| Summary: | Over the past few decades, treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR)/extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) has been challenging because of its prolonged duration (up to 20–24 months), toxicity, costs and sub-optimal outcomes. After over 40 years of neglect, two new drugs (bedaquiline and delamanid) have been made available to manage difficult-to-treat MDR-/XDR-TB cases. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines published in March 2019 endorsed the possibility of treating MDR-TB patients with a full oral regimen, following previous guidelines published in 2016 which launched a shorter regimen lasting 9–10 months. The objectives of this article are to review the main achievements in MDR-TB treatment through the description of the existing WHO strategies, to discuss the main ongoing trials and to shed light on potential future scenarios and revised definitions necessary to manage drug-resistant TB. |
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| ISSN: | 0905-9180 1600-0617 |