The much-awaited result of the Standardised Treatment Regimen of Anti-TB Drugs for Patients with MDR-TB or STREAM trial was released on Thursday at the ongoing 48th Union’s world conference on lung health at Guadalajara. It showed that the nine-month regimen is “very close to the effectiveness” of the 20-24 month regimen recommended by the WHO in 2011. However, Bangladesh has already started that nine-month regimen to treat this dangerous form of tuberculosis after the country’s own research received World Health Organisation’s (WHO) approval. ID Rusen, Union lead for the STREAM trial, said the nine-month regimen “did as well or even better than we expected given the rigorous standards of the clinical trial”. Dr Paula Fujiwara, Scientific Director of The Union, said they are “pleased with the performance of the nine-month regimen in the STREAM trial".

Source: bd News24 October 13, 2017 15:56 UTC