PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - W.W. Yew
AU  - C. Lange
AU  - C.C. Leung
TI  - Treatment of tuberculosis: update 2010
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00033010
DP  - 2011 Feb 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 441--462
VI  - 37
IP  - 2
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/37/2/441.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/37/2/441.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Feb 01; 37
AB  - Currently, the standard short-course chemotherapy for tuberculosis comprises a 6-month regimen, with a four-drug intensive phase and a two-drug continuation phase. Alternative chemotherapy using more costly and toxic drugs, often for prolonged durations generally >18 months, is required for multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. Directly observed treatment, as part of a holistic care programme, is a cost-effective strategy to ensure high treatment success and curtail development of drug resistance in tuberculosis. New antituberculosis drugs are urgently needed to improve the present standard short-course and alternative chemotherapies, by shortening administration durations and increasing cure rates, through the greater potency of these agents. At the same time, the role of adjunctive surgery for drug-resistant tuberculosis has to be better defined. Immunotherapy might improve treatment outcomes of both drug-susceptible and -resistant tuberculosis, and warrants further exploration.