Friday, August 5, 2011

Shortage of injectable capreomycin

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists has announced a shortage of injectable capreomycin. Unfortunately the reason given for this shortage is increased global demand, and the manufacturer is allocating supplies. If you are an unfortunate with a drug-resistant tuberculosis strain, capreomycin is a second line treatment.

Most tuberculosis infections are now resistant to streptomycin, and rifampicin has become a first line treatment, in combination with isoniazid, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide. The increased incidence of rifampicin-resistant TB has led to increased use of capreomycin with this drug combination.

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