[Intermittent chemotherapy from the beginning or only after a period of daily administration? Quantitative bacteriological study at the initial phase of chemotherapy with INH + RMP + EMB in daily or intermittent administration].

A number of 75 adults with pulmonary tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis positive at microscopy and in cultures) were randomly selected for one of the following therapeutical regimens, administered under close surveillance in hospital during 3 months: --INH5 mg/kg body weight+RMP10 mg/kg body weight+EMB25 mg/kg body weight daily; --INH15 mg/kg body weight+RMP10 mg/kg body weight+EMB40 mg/kg body weight, intermitent administration (2/7). Disappearance of the Mycobacterium from the sputum was studied quantitatively both by microscopy and in cultures; the sputum samples were collected in the morning three days running every week during the period of 13 weeks surveillance. Processing of the results showed that in the material studied the initial intermittent administration of the drugs was just as efficient as daily administration irrespective of the criterion used for comparison (moment of negativation, rate of disappearance of the Mycobacterium and/or proportion of negative cases, dynamics of the decrease in the number of bacilli eliminated in the course of the treatment, regression of the radiologic alterations).