Higher doses of TB drug needed

Higher doses of a drug used to tackle TB are required in order for it to have a more noticeable effect on children.

That is the conclusion of a new pharmacokinetic study in South Africa, which looked at first-line TB drug Rifampin (RMP).

The research, from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and published in the BMC Medicine journal, claimed standard doses of RMP are inadequate.

RMP is currently given to children in eight to 12mg/kg body weight doses, but the researchers are calling for ten to 20mg/kg doses instead.

Led by Dr H Simon Shaaf from the University of Stellenbosch, the research team said that the drug was particularly important as it could help to reduce levels of relapse and HIV as well as TB.

They stated: "In the era of HIV/AIDS, any reduction in the dose of TB agents reflected by frequency and length of treatment, particularly in more severe forms of pulmonary TB, may be associated with an increased risk of relapse."

While the most common form of TB affects the lungs, it can also affect many other parts of the body.

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