Drugs used in tuberculosis and leprosy

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses drugs used in tuberculosis and leprosy. The chapter discusses isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and enviomycin used in tuberculosis. Since the introduction of rifampicin (RMP) therapy, about 60 cases of acute renal failure have been reported. The onset and course of nephropathy have many features in common. Usually, only patients on intermittent regimens or to whom RMP was re-administered, have been affected. Skin damage seems to be the runner up among ethambutol's side effects. A lichenoid skin eruption restricted to the light-exposed areas developed in a 67-yearold man. The withdrawal test indicated ethambutol as the provocative agent. The administration of drugs during pregnancy is always disputable and the physician must carefully weigh the risk to the patient against that to the fetus. Antituberculous drugs represent a special problem, because their administration is obviously of long duration and patients may become pregnant during the course of therapy.