Drug | Route | Side Effects |
---|---|---|
First-line drugs* | ||
Isoniazid | By mouth | Liver injury (hepatitis) in 1 person in 1,000, resulting in fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and jaundice |
Rifampin (and the related drugs rifabutin and rifapentine) | By mouth | Liver injury, particularly when rifampin is combined with isoniazid (but the effects go away when people stop the drug) Reddish orange discoloration of urine, tears, and sweat Kidney failure Overview of Kidney Failure Kidney failure is the inability of the kidneys to adequately filter metabolic waste products from the blood. Kidney failure has many possible causes. Some lead to a rapid decline in kidney function... read more Rarely a low white blood cell or platelet count |
Pyrazinamide | By mouth | Liver injury (hepatitis), digestive upset, and sometimes gout |
Ethambutol | By mouth | Sometimes blurred vision and decreased color perception (because the drug affects the optic nerve) |
Moxifloxacin | By mouth | Inflammation or rupture of tendons Nervousness, tremors, and seizures Antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colon inflammation Clostridioides (formerly Clostridium) difficile–Induced Colitis Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile)–induced colitis is an inflammation of the large intestine (colon) that results in diarrhea. The inflammation is caused by toxin produced... read more (colitis) |
Second-line drugs† | ||
Aminoglycosides, such as streptomycin, amikacin, and kanamycin | By injection into a muscle | Kidney injury, dizziness, hearing loss (due to damage to nerves of the inner ear), rash, and fever |
Fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin | By mouth | Inflammation or rupture of tendons Nervousness, tremors, and seizures Antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colon inflammation Clostridioides (formerly Clostridium) difficile–Induced Colitis Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile)–induced colitis is an inflammation of the large intestine (colon) that results in diarrhea. The inflammation is caused by toxin produced... read more (colitis) |
Capreomycin | By injection into a muscle | Side effects similar to those of aminoglycosides (but capreomycin is often tolerated better if treatment is needed for a long time) |
* First-line drugs are usually the first choice for treatment. | ||
† Second-line drugs are usually used when the bacteria causing tuberculosis have become resistant to first-line drugs or when people cannot tolerate one of the first-line drugs. |