Revue des maladies respiratoires
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This study has compared a daily 6-month short-course chemotherapy regimen and a daily 12-month standard duration regimen in the treatment of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis in a rural area of Algeria where the population contains a relatively high proportion of nomads. The 6-month regimen (6M) was isoniazid and rifampicin throughout with ethambutol and pyrazinamide in addition for the first 2 months, and the 12-month regimen (12M) was isoniazid and ethambutol supplemented by streptomycin during the first month. All the 601 patients admitted had one or more sputum smears positive on examination in the local laboratory and 70% had a positive culture in the reference laboratory in Algiers. ⋯ A further 23 6M and 22 12M patients were known to have died, 11 in each series probably or definitely from tuberculosis. The remaining 28 6M and 34 12M patients were lost from follow-up, but 24 and 22 respectively had completed their allocated chemotherapy before defaulting. It was estimated that, overall, 272 (94%) of the 6M and 263 (91%) of the 12M patients had a favourable status at 3 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)