Abstract
A previous report from the Tuberculosis Chemotherapy Centre, Madras, has shown that, if standard chemotherapy is given for one year, the response of patients treated at home in very poor environmental circumstances is nearly as good as that of those treated in sanatorium under much more favourable conditions. This paper reports on a four-year follow-up of all the patients whose disease was bacteriologically quiescent at the end of the year's treatment. During this period, all the patients were managed on a domiciliary basis; about a quarter of them received chemotherapy with isoniazid alone for two years, another quarter received the drug for one year and the rest received no specific chemotherapy. Despite adverse environmental factors (poor diet; long hours of work often involving strenuous physical activity; overcrowded living conditions; and, for the sanatorium patients, the stresses of returning suddenly to the unfavourable home environment), the great majority of patients in both series maintained quiescent disease throughout the follow-up period. Furthermore, the few patients whose disease relapsed bacteriologically were at no special dietary disadvantage in comparison with those who maintained quiescent disease throughout, nor did they show any appreciable differences in occupation, physical activity or living accommodation. These findings, together with the earlier ones, indicate that, despite adverse environmental circumstances, standard chemotherapy for an adequate period of time is sufficient in the great majority of patients for the attainment of bacteriological quiescence and its maintenance thereafter.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BELL W. J. The initiation of chemotherapy in pulmonary tuberculosis in West Africans. Hospital and ambulant treatment compared using streptomycyclidine-isonicotinic acid hydrazide. Br J Dis Chest. 1960 Jul;54:247–254. doi: 10.1016/s0007-0971(60)80007-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DEVADATTA S., ANDREWS R. H., ANGEL J. H., BHATIA A. L., FOX W., JANARDHANAM B., RADHAKRISHNA S., RAMAKRISHNAN C. V., SUBBAIAH T. V., VELU S. Progress in the second and third years of patients with quiescent pulmonary tuberculosis after a year of chemotherapy at home or in sanatorium, and influence of further chemotherapy on the relapse rate. Bull World Health Organ. 1961;24:149–175. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- PASRICHA S. A survey of dietary intake in a group of poor, pregnant and lactating women. Indian J Med Res. 1958 Jul;46(4):605–609. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- PASRICHA S. An assessment of reliability of the oral questionnaire method of diet survey as applied to Indian communities. Indian J Med Res. 1959 Mar;47(2):207–213. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- RAMAKRISHNAN C. V., RAJENDRAN K., JACOB P. G., FOX W., RADHAKRISHNA S. The role of diet in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. An evaluation in a controlled chemotherapy study in home and sanatorium patients in South India. Bull World Health Organ. 1961;25:339–359. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- VELU S., ANDREWS R. H., DEVADATTA S., FOX W., RADHAKRISHNA S., RAMAKRISHNAN C. V., SELKON J. B., SOMASUNDARAM P. R., SUBBAIAH T. V. Progress in the second year of patients with quiescent pulmonary tuberculosis after a year of chemotherapy at home or in sanatorium, and influence of further chemotherapy on the relapse rate. Bull World Health Organ. 1960;23:511–533. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]