Breakthrough in TB treatment
tuberculosis
Copyright 2010 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 05/19/2011
Atlanta - Doctors may be able to successfully treat latent tuberculosis with far less medication than is required now, a new study found.
Latent tuberculosis causes no symptoms but is treated with a daily dose of a drug for nine months, NBC reports.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University found a three-month treatment combining two weekly medications was just as effective as the standard protocol of nine months.
The Centers for Disease Control calls these findings the biggest breakthrough in treating TB since the 1960's.
The new treatment could help reduce the number of cases of active tuberculosis and simplify the lives of over 300,000 Americans.
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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