A Concurrent Comparison of Isoniazid plus PAS with Three Regimens of Isoniazid Alone in the Domiciliary Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in South India

Recent studies have shown that treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with isoniazid plus p-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) at home is, in the majority of cases, as satisfactory as treatment with the same combination of drugs in sanatorium and does not appear to expose the patient’s contacts to any special risk. Before mass domiciliary chemotherapy can be introduced, however, a question that has to be decided is what drug or drugs and what dosage and rhythm of administration will be most effective. This paper presents the results of a controlled comparison of four chemotherapeutic regimens : (a) 3.9-5.5 mglkg body-weight of isoniazid plus 0.2-0.3 g/kg body-weight of PAS (sodium salt) daily in two doses (the standard combined chemotherapy) ; (b) 7.8-9.6 mglkg body-weight of isoniazid alone daily in one dose ; (c) 7.8-9.6 mg/kg body-weight of isoniazid alone daily in two doses ; (d) 3.9-5.5 mg/kg body-weight of isoniazid alone daily in two doses. Isoniazid plus PAS proved to be the most satisfactory regimen; it was clinically effective and there were very few toxic manifestations