New Delhi, Feb. 12 -- Shorter treatment regimens for drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) are cheaper and lead to better health outcomes in India, according to a recent study by experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The study, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR), evaluated two fully oral, six-month treatment regimens using widely prescribed anti-TB drugs for multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant TB. Researchers assessed both the cost and treatment effectiveness of the regimens.
The analysis compared two bedaquiline-based combinations, BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid) and BPaLM (which also includes moxifloxacin), with the shorter (9-11 months) and longer (18-20 months) bedaquiline-containi...