Infectious diseases and tropical medicine

Some of the earliest clinical trials were conducted in infectious diseases. In the 1940s, the development of the first antibiotics for treating tuberculosis coincided with the recognition that rigorous clinical trials were required to determine optimum drug combinations and duration of treatment. The joint efforts of bacteriologists, clinicians, and statisticians promoted the development of clinical trials, acknowledging that clinically valid endpoints and careful statistical analysis are vital for trials to provide evidence of sufficient quality to guide clinical practice. This chapter covers key questions in this field addressed by good-quality trials. It covers clinical evidence important to practitioners both overseas and in the UK. It focuses on trials that have generated key data, while also covering trials which address clinical problems that are important worldwide and less commonly seen in the UK where critical evaluation of current trials might be difficult.