Denis Mitchison - Research

Research

The framework of this work was a series of clinical trials in the UK and in larger numbers in East Africa, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Czechoslovakia. This work passed through two stages; the first dealt with the problem of drug-resistant tubercle bacilli, which was solved by the use of regimens incorporating 2, 3 or 4 different anti-tuberculosis drugs. The second phase, starting with a publication in 1970, dealt with the shortening of the treatment period from at least 12 months to 6 months by the use of rifampicin and pyrazinamide in so-called "short-course" regimens. These short-course regimens are the basis of current standard therapy with 2 months of 4 drugs (rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide and ethambutol) followed by 4 months of rifampicin and isoniazid.

He established specialist TB laboratories in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia as well as a central laboratory in Hong Kong.

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