User:Mr. Ibrahem/Rifabutin

Rifabutin (Rfb) is an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis and prevent and treat Mycobacterium avium complex. It is typically only used in those who cannot tolerate rifampin such as people with HIV/AIDS on antiretrovirals. For active tuberculosis it is used with other antimycobacterial medications. For latent tuberculosis it may be used by itself when the exposure was with drug-resistant TB.

Common side effects include abdominal pain, nausea, rash, headache, and low blood neutrophil levels. Other side effects include muscles pains and uveitis. While no harms have been found during pregnancy it has not been well studied in this population. Rifabutin is in the rifamycin family of medications. It by blocking RNA production in bacteria.

Rifabutin was approved for medical use in the United States in 1992. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$30 a month. In the United States a month of treatment is more than $200.