Modern antibacterial therapy of tuberculosis using streptomycin or sulfone compounds has never been hailed as a definitive self-sufficient method of treatment. Nevertheless, some authors of articles directed to the public have at times been less critical in their appraisal. A troublesome disregard of the limitations and hazards of treating tuberculosis with such drugs as streptomycin has become apparent. Physicians are pressed by anxious patients or their friends to use streptomycin instead of other well established methods.
A recent report of the Clinical Subcommittee of the Committee on Medical Research and Therapy of the American Trudeau Society (Medical Section of the National Tuberculosis Association) offers specific recommendations:
Streptomycin appears to be most effective in the treatment of recent, acute, fairly extensive, and progressing pulmonary tuberculous lesions. Its use is particularly recommended in the treatment of tuberculous pneumonia. Symptomatic relief and roentgenologic improvement are common in many types of pulmonary tuberculosis soon