A considerably higher dose of the anti-tuberculosis drug rifampicin is safe and can also lead to a shorter treatment for tuberculosis and less resistance. This is what researchers from Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen write in a recent publication. With this they complete a year-long search for the right dosing of an old drug against tuberculosis that appears to be the key drug.

The BCG vaccine, an old treatment originally developed for tuberculosis, has a broad, stimulating effect on the immune system. This gives it an effective preventive action against various infections -- possibly also against COVID-19. It is frequently given to children, but in this double-blind randomized clinical study, a collaboration between Radboud University Medical Center and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens it was shown that elderly people also benefit from it. The results of the study are in Cell.