INTRODUCTION The emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is a challenging paradigm shift faced by the TB control programs worldwide today. The treatment is further compounded with unique management difficulties faced in pediatric patients. Treatment of XDR-TB requires prolonged chemotherapy with second-line drugs which offer lesser potency and increased risk of drug-relate...

Whether it is mobile phone service or vacation travel, good businesses know that success depends on providing a complete and customer-centric solution. Should patients with tuberculosis not be offered a complete solution that is patient-centred? After all, millions are affected and a large market at the base-ofthe-pyramid remains unserved. A complete and patient-centric solution will not only i...

Tuberculosis (TB) is currently the leading cause of death from a curable infectious disease accounting for 8.7 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths in the year 2011. From the year 2012, TB is a notifiable disease in India which means that all cases of TB diagnosed by any means has to be reported to the public health authorities. This would help policy makers to make rational decisions with ...

OBJECTIVES To elicit reasons for treatment default from a cohort of TB patients under RNTCP and their DOT providers. METHODS A total of 186 defaulters among the 938 patients registered during 3rd and 4th quarters of 1999 and 2001 in one Tuberculosis Unit (TU) of Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu and their DOT providers were included in the study. They were interviewed using a semi-structured in...

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive survey among 141 medical physicians treating tuberculosis (TB) patients, registered with local chest physicians association in Lucknow District, India. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the physicians' knowledge of anti-tuberculosis prescribed medication regimens. Sixty percent of eligible physicians had Revised National Tuberculosi...

BACKGROUND There is paucity of information on epidemiological situation of Tuberculosis (TB) in Andhra Pradesh. The DOTS strategy under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) was introduced in the year 2000 to cover the entire State by 2005. OBJECTIVES To estimate the prevalence of tuberculous infection among children 5-9 years of age and to compute the average Annual Ris...

SETTING A tertiary health care facility (Government General and Chest hospital) in Hyderabad, India. OBJECTIVES To assess a) the extent of compliance of specialists to standardized national (RNTCP) tuberculosis management guidelines and b) if patients on discharge from hospital were being appropriately linked up with peripheral health facilities for continuation of anti-Tuberculosis (TB) trea...

BACKGROUND Under India's Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), all household contacts of sputum smear positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) patients are screened for TB. In the absence of active TB disease, household contacts aged <6 years are eligible for Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) (5 milligrams/kilogram body weight/day) for 6 months. OBJECTIVES To estimate the num...