Shorter TB treatment regimens should be safer as well
Oxana Rucsineanu, P. Agbassi, Rosa María Blanca Herrera, Marcus Low, Lindsay McKenna, Jonathan Stillo, P. Winarni, Anjali Acharya, Amir Hossein Sari
Abstract
Most ongoing and planned TB therapeutic trials are focused on shortening the duration of treatment while giving less consideration to other aspects of TB care that are important to people with TB. Here we argue that other variables besides duration of TB treatment should also be considered when developing new TB treatment regimens, including drug toxicity, time spent in monitoring and overall quality of life while on therapy. We examine the specific use of linezolid in treatment-shortening trials for drug-susceptible TB and propose additional endpoints that should be prioritised in TB treatment studies.