Directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS, also known as TB-DOTS) is the name given to the tuberculosis (TB) control strategy recommended by the World Health Organization. According to WHO, "The most cost-effective way to stop the spread of TB in communities with a high incidence is by curing it.
DOTS has five main components: Government commitment (including political will at all levels, and establishment of a centralized and prioritized system of TB monitoring, recording and training) Standardized treatment regimen directly of six to nine months observed by a healthcare worker or community health worker for at least the first two months
The technical strategy for DOTS was developed by Karel Styblo of the International Union Against TB & Lung Disease in the 1970s and 80s, primarily in Tanzania, but also in Malawi, Nicaragua and Mozambique. Styblo refined “a treatment system of checks and balances that provided high cure rates at a cost affordable for most developing countries.”
The initial emphasis was on "DOT, or directly observed therapy, using a specific combination of TB medicines known as short-course chemotherapy as one of the five essential elements for controlling TB.
Background. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Russia as one of the 22 highest-burden countries for tuberculosis (TB). The WHO Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) strategy employing a standardised treatment for 6 months produces the highest cure rates for drug sensitive TB.
DOT is widely used to manage tuberculosis (TB) disease. In HIV treatment, DOT is sometimes called directly administered antiretroviral therapy (DAART).
Globally, tuberculosis causes about 2 million deaths yearly[6],[7]. In response to this catastrophe, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) global tuberculosis programme in 1993 declared tuberculosis a global emergency and began promoting a management strategy called directly observed therapy short course (DOTS).
The DOTS strategy focuses on five main actions which are essential for the successful treatment and eradication of TB: (1) government commitment to control TB, (2) diagnosis based on sputum-smear microscopy tests done on patients who actively report TB symptoms, (3) direct observation short-course chemotherapy ...
DOTS is an acronym used to remember what to look for when conducting a physical assessment of a casualty (i.e. looking for injuries). DOTS stands for: Deformities. Open wounds.
DOTS involved treatment with a four drug regimen. These were isoniazid (INH), Rifampicin (Rif), Prazinamide (PZA) and Ethambutol (EMB) for 6-9 months.
DOTS: Stands for Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course. DOTS is a strategy used to reduce the number of tuberculosis (TB) cases. In DOTS, healthcare workers observe patients as they take their medicine.
Directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS, also known as TB-DOTS) is the name given to the tuberculosis (TB) control strategy recommended by the World Health Organization. According to WHO, "The most cost-effective way to stop the spread of TB in communities with a high incidence is by curing it.
Tuberculosis treatment – Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) Called Directly Observed Therapy (DOT), the treatment requires patients to go to a clinic daily or three times a week and take their medicine (about 11 tablets initially) in front of a health care worker, most often a nurse. The process is rather quick.
The Lung Center of the Philippines TB DOTS Clinic caters to adult afflicted with TB since early 2000 and children with TB in 2007. It is the first public health facility engaged in implementing Programmatic Management for Drug resistant TB in 2005 as a satellite treatment center under the Green Light Committee.
NATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS PROGRAM. The DRMC TB-DOTS clinic is a diagnostic and therapeutic unit that caters patients diagnosed with TB or suspected of having TB. The Directly Observed Treatment Strategy (DOTS) is the most effective approach in the diagnosis, treatment, and control of TB.
DOT not only ensures administration of prescribed therapy for the benefit of community disease control but also provides a regular venue for detecting adverse effects, assessing response to therapy, and encouraging perseverance with drug regimens that are typically difficult to tolerate.
DOT is a service provided by healthcare departments in which a trained public health worker watches the ingestion of each dose of medication taken to complete therapy.
Ethambutol is included in the regimen in the event that drug resistance is later detected from the tuberculosis culture. If the offending organism is known to be susceptible to all antituberculous medications then ethambutol can be excluded.
In the UK, where tuberculosis is (or should be) treated by experienced physicians working in direct conjunction with tuberculosis nurses or health visitors 24 and as part of a district plan, 72,90 DOT is recommended for selective use in people with an adverse adherence assessment.
The discovery and widespread use of these drugs dramatically changed the lives of millions of people. The tuberculosis sanatorium, which offered patients the comfort of bed rest and helped diminish tuberculosis transmission in the community, long the only hope for many patients, soon became obsolete.
For patients with pulmonary disease, serial sputum examinations should be conducted (e.g., weekly until smear negative, then monthly through the end of treatment). For extrapulmonary tuberculosis, mycobacteriologic monitoring is not feasible, warranting greater attention to clinical and radiographic responses to therapy.
Directly observed therapy. Concerns about patient adherence, its effects on relapse and the development of drug resistance, has lead to the WHO advocating directly observed therapy (DOT) in the form of short-course chemotherapy or DOTS.