Higher Doses Of First-Line TB Drugs Linked With Increased Adverse Events Among Pediatric Patients, Review Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (5/30, Nye) reported a systematic review and meta-analysis found that “higher doses of first-line drugs for tuberculosis (TB) infection are associated with increased risk for adverse events (AEs) and drug-related AEs among pediatric patients.” Researchers analyzed 40 studies “to compare the rate of AEs associated with first-line TB treatment among children and adolescents before vs after the WHO recommended higher doses (pre- vs post-WHO 2010 dosing) for pediatric populations.” They observed that “stratified by pre- vs post-2010 WHO-recommended dosing, the rate of AEs was higher among patients who received higher doses of first-line TB drugs. Similar findings were observed between the groups in an analysis restricted to patients with confirmed dosing levels.” Compared with lower doses of first-line TB drugs, they saw that “higher WHO-recommended doses were significantly associated with increased rates of severe AEs and drug-related AEs.” The review was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.