A service programme with a 6-month intensive chemotherapy regimen in the treatment of drug addicts and prisoners with pulmonary tuberculosis in Hong Kong.

The results are reported of a service programme in Hong Kong of intensive antituberculosis chemotherapy with 5 drugs given daily for 6 months in the treatment of 78 male Chinese drug addicts and prisoners who had pulmonary tuberculosis positive for acid-fast bacilli on microscopic examination of the sputum. Of the 53 patients who received 6 months (24-26 weeks) of chemotherapy, 9 had had negative sputum cultures pretreatment, 31 positive drug-sensitive cultures, and 13 positive cultures resistant to isoniazid, streptomycin, or both drugs. All 53 achieved quiescent disease during chemotherapy, and only 1, with drug-sensitive cultures pretreatment, relapsed bacteriologically during a year of follow-up. Almost all of the patients who received less than 6 months of chemotherapy also responded well. Although the regimen contained 5 drugs, the frequency of adverse reactions was low.