Evolution of short-course antimicrobial treatment of tuberculosis in children, 1951-1984

Although the first unrecognized indication that short-course antimicrobial treatment of tuberculosis might be effective came in reports of tuberculous meningitis and miliary tuberculosis in children so treated by Lorber (1951 to 1956), the 1977 American Lung Association-American Thoracic Society recommendation for antimicrobial therapy of tuberculosis in adults still specified an 18-month course. The first prospective study on the short-course antimicrobial treatment of children in the United States was published in December 1983. The long delay before recognition of the practicability of short-course antimicrobial treatment of tuberculosis has probably been occasioned by ignorance of drug actions and the mechanisms involved.