Preliminary findings of international research on tuberculosis suggest a new combination of three drugs is effective in fighting the disease.
TB kills about 1.4 million people each year and is a leading killer of people with AIDS.
A team led by Stellenbosch University in South Africa reported in the Lancet that the therapy appeared to be equally effective on a drug-resistant form of the disease in the trials of 85 patients.
The BBC reports larger studies are now taking place to further test the technique.
Current treatments usually involve people taking drugs daily for six months.
Of the three drugs used in this study, one is new, while another is not yet licensed.
