STREPTOMYCIN THERAPY IN PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

Riggins and Hinshaw¹ have summarized the results of the use of streptomycin in 332 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis; patients were treated by cooperative investigators designated by the executive committee of the American Trudeau Society. A statistical analysis was made on those who had been observed for at least ninety days after initiation of treatment. Types differing as to nature of disease, age, race and sex were treated in widely separated sections of the country. Of the 332 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 17 had minimal, 118 moderately advanced and 197 far advanced disease; 80 per cent had predominantly acute or subacute disease, and the remainder predominantly chronic disease at the beginning of the treatment.

The beneficial effect of streptomycin in tuberculosis, the report indicates, depends on its interference with the growth and multiplication of streptomycin-sensitive strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Streptomycin apparently does not directly enhance repair to tissue, but it