Failure of a prothionamide-containing oral antituberculosis regimen

A group of 150 patients with sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis was treated with a regimen containing only orally administered drugs. Rifampicin and pyrazinamide were combined with Isoprodian, which contains isoniazid and also prothionamide and diaphenylsulphone. All the drugs were given daily for 5 months. Early analysis of the results shows 5 treatment failures, 27 relapses of pulmonary tuberculosis and another 17 patients who did not complete the prescribed regimen.