Four Months of Rifampin Less Expensive than Nine Months of Isoniazid for Latent Tuberculosis

The cost savings were realized in most adult and pediatric populations, from low- to high-income countries, despite generally higher drug costs for rifampin.

Until recently, 9 months of isoniazid was the standard treatment for latent tuberculosis. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) preferentially recommends a rifamycin-containing regimen (either 3 months of weekly rifapentine plus isoniazid or 4 months of rifampin). However, rifampin is more expensive than isoniazid in most settings. Thus, investigators analyzed two previous multicenter randomized trials to determine overall health system costs. The trials included 6012 adults and 829 children with latent tuberculosis randomized to 4 months of rifampin or 9 months of isoniazid. Sites included high-income, moderate-income, and African countries. As previously reported, rifampin demonstrated noninferiority to isoniazid…

Reviewing Author

Daniel Kaul, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNobelpharma; Pfizer

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Transplantation (Program Committee)

Daniel Kaul, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNobelpharma; Pfizer

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Transplantation (Program Committee)

Four Months of Rifampin Less Expensive than Nine Months of Isoniazid for Latent Tuberculosis

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Reviewing Author