Preliminary research results indicate that faster and more effective treatment of tuberculosis is possible, reports Lancet.
The pill called PaMZ is a combination of pyrazinamide, a standard anti-tuberculosis drug – with the antibiotic moxifloxacin (not yet used in the treatment of tuberculosis) and a new drug called PA-824.
PaMZ can eliminate many of the resistant strains of the tuberculosis-causing bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that have spread to South Africa, India and the former Soviet Union. Importantly, the new therapy lasts six times less and costs ten times cheaper than the existing methods, is less toxic and takes a third less pills.
PaMZ also showed promising results in the treatment of tuberculosis in people infected with HIV, a serious problem in sub-Saharan African countries.
In a South African study, the new pill killed 99% of tuberculosis-causing bacteria in just two weeks.
Tuberculosis is one of the oldest and most dangerous infectious diseases. It kills around 1 million people every year, mostly in developing countries. Currently used treatments for it require daily medication for six months. Patients often discontinue treatment, which favors the emergence of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. (PAP)
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