Technical Writing in the Field of Industrial Engineering
Submitted to:
Dr. Donald Brasted-Maki
Oregon State University
Corvallis Or, 97331
Submitted by:
Humood Aljleeby
Industrial engineering
Oregon State University
Corvallis Or, 97331
ABSTRACT
Humood Aljleeby, an industrial engineering major at Oregon State University. In this report written by Humood Aljleeby '' technical writing in the field of industrial engineering. Talking about the importance of technical writing and how as an industrial engineers they need it to present there ideas into others who work with them to make them understand what they have in mind. Humood interviewed Abdulahala Aljulaibi who's the CEO for one of the most important companies in Kuwait that focuses o eCommerce and online shopping. In that interview, it shows how important being able to communicate properly is very important in the engineering world.
Keywords:- writing, communication, CEO, idea, vision.
Introduction
The purpose of this interview is knowing how it's very beneficial to know how to most engineers are really bad at conducting a proper way to explain what they conducted after intensive studying, attempts, and trials. How a few years ago by getting an engineering degree it's a given that you needed to have someone to check your work and talk to you about where it's going wrong and how can you conduct a report. After fixing the problem by making it mandatory to take classes while you are in school it helped a little buy after all technical writing isn't that important while you are at the job but definitely important to explain the message.
Education and professional background.
Abdulla was a student at the University of South Florida in Tampa FL, he was an international student and after graduation, he went back home to Kuwait to start his work journey. he started working in a factory that produces the billboards on the streets and while he was showing dramatic success and excellent knowledge he implore saw potential and made him his write hand and took him to show him a new field and introduced him to the eCommerce world and years after working for him he made him the CEO of the company and they are still working together to this day.
METHODOLOGY
ON THE EVENT OF JANUARY /26/2020 Humood Aljleeby got in contact with Abdullah Aljulaibi via Face Time, regardless conveying an interview the two spent approximately one hour and ten minutes but due to the time difference, Humood had to reach out at 5 am since after all Abdullah is a very busy man who had only a few available slats in his schedule, after carefully conducting the write questions to make sure he uses there time together effectively. He answered all his questions with complete honesty and transparency.
RESULTS
Abdullah made sure to le me know that being an engineer depends a lot by communicating and understanding other professionals you also don't really have enough time to write a lot, most of the writing that they do is to update t.
Technical Writing in the Field of Industrial EngineeringSubm.docx
1. Technical Writing in the Field of Industrial Engineering
Submitted to:
Dr. Donald Brasted-Maki
Oregon State University
Corvallis Or, 97331
Submitted by:
Humood Aljleeby
Industrial engineering
Oregon State University
Corvallis Or, 97331
ABSTRACT
Humood Aljleeby, an industrial engineering major at Oregon
State University. In this report written by Humood Aljleeby ''
technical writing in the field of industrial engineering. Talking
about the importance of technical writing and how as an
industrial engineers they need it to present there ideas into
others who work with them to make them understand what they
have in mind. Humood interviewed Abdulahala Aljulaibi who's
the CEO for one of the most important companies in Kuwait
that focuses o eCommerce and online shopping. In that
interview, it shows how important being able to communicate
properly is very important in the engineering world.
Keywords:- writing, communication, CEO, idea, vision.
Introduction
The purpose of this interview is knowing how it's very
beneficial to know how to most engineers are really bad at
conducting a proper way to explain what they conducted after
intensive studying, attempts, and trials. How a few years ago by
getting an engineering degree it's a given that you needed to
2. have someone to check your work and talk to you about where
it's going wrong and how can you conduct a report. After fixing
the problem by making it mandatory to take classes while you
are in school it helped a little buy after all technical writing
isn't that important while you are at the job but definitely
important to explain the message.
Education and professional background.
Abdulla was a student at the University of South Florida in
Tampa FL, he was an international student and after graduation,
he went back home to Kuwait to start his work journey. he
started working in a factory that produces the billboards on the
streets and while he was showing dramatic success and
excellent knowledge he implore saw potential and made him his
write hand and took him to show him a new field and introduced
him to the eCommerce world and years after working for him he
made him the CEO of the company and they are still working
together to this day.
METHODOLOGY
ON THE EVENT OF JANUARY /26/2020 Humood Aljleeby got
in contact with Abdullah Aljulaibi via Face Time, regardless
conveying an interview the two spent approximately one hour
and ten minutes but due to the time difference, Humood had to
reach out at 5 am since after all Abdullah is a very busy man
who had only a few available slats in his schedule, after
carefully conducting the write questions to make sure he uses
there time together effectively. He answered all his questions
with complete honesty and transparency.
RESULTS
Abdullah made sure to le me know that being an engineer
depends a lot by communicating and understanding other
professionals you also don't really have enough time to write a
lot, most of the writing that they do is to update the people who
are in charge and others who are working with them, every now
and then they have to propose a new project to investors and
3. that the most that an engineer would spend time to write since
it's the only way they can start working is that they have people
who believe in them and usually those people are not engineers
or even If they are they would be from a different area of
engineering, sometimes the project requires more than one and
in that case using email is the way they go with it since its fast
easy and free.
- He would write a daily update for his boss.
- He would write a proposal at least quarterly.
- He requires his employees to send him updates via reports
almost every day.
- Writing speeches every now and then for public statements
and he uses a professional to help.
Conclusion
writing is very beneficial sine it's a form of communication
between two different people that aren't there at that time. As an
engineer, you don't have enough hours in your day to write a
lot, and most engineers hire people that help them with there
writing since its not their strong suit. Usually, they write for the
people who they work with and not to the public unless they
discovered a new thing or to explain their way of thinking.
After all, they see a dramatic improvement in the new
generation of engineers do to that mandatory classes at school
that they just in forced like technical writing
example
note its not his work just because his job requires him to keep it
confidential.
Texas A&M University Industrial and Systems Engineering
Senior Design -- Generic Project Proposal Examples
(1)
4. Over the past year, Company X has rapidly outgrown its
warehouse at the pressure control facility, which has caused a
lack of storage area. Due to this severe lack of space, the
warehouse is using a randomized storage system to store the
inventory. A cycle count system is performed daily to verify
current inventory numbers in the pressure control facility. The
database determines which parts need to be counted depending
on their classification in the ABC system.
Within the cycle count system, parts are categorized by their
level of revenue generated in an ABC system. An A part is
considered top dollar parts and are counted four times a year. B
parts are considered middle dollar parts, and the cycle count is
performed three times a year. Commodity items are considered
C parts which are counted twice a year. An annual count is
performed on slow move parts, D parts.
Daily, a group of warehouse pickers perform the cycle count
procedures. A set of pick sheets are distributed for the
employees to count. The employees are responsible for
counting the items on the pick sheets, and are given a limited
amount time to search, if the part is not observed in the
recorded location. Once completed, the counted numbers on
each pick sheet is compared to the database. If these numbers
do not match, a second count is performed by a different
warehouse picker. If by the end of the second count the
numbers do not match, a researcher will be given the specific
part/pick sheet. The researcher will search for the missing part
and if unable to locate the part will take corrective action.
The first count accuracy is sporadic varying from 45 to 95
percent. This has forced Company X to write off a substantial
amount of money in 2008. The purpose of this project is to
identify the major causes of these inaccuracies. Upon
identifying the inaccuracies, recommendations of necessary
improvements will be made.
The objective of the project is to identify major causes of the
inaccuracies and develop recommendations. Our goal is to
5. ultimately reach and maintain a first count accuracy level of
over ninety percent. These recommendations will reduce costly
inventory write offs, lead time in locating and obtaining parts,
and resources spent when searching for misplaced parts.
(2)
Senior Design Team, consists of Texas A&M Industrial
Engineering students and has been contracted by Company X to
analyze their current Product Assembly (PA) operations and to
provide decision support tools that will assist in developing
optimized Order Release Quantity (ORQ) for their PA
production runs. While ORQs are the main focus of the project,
the support tool will also reveal how specific changes will
impact several other parameters of the PA manufacturing
process. Company X’s facility manufactures widgets, gadgets,
and various other related equipment. Each of these products can
consist of multiple PAs. The scope of this project encompasses
only the PA portion of manufacturing and ordering, not the box
building process of the final products. Currently, Company X
does not have a model in place to simulate its PA manufacturing
processes or order scheduling. Senior Design Team wishes to
develop several dynamic computer models that are sensitive to
various parameters, thus allowing Company X to easily simulate
possible changes in PA production and ordering before
implementing them on the factory floor. The effects on ORQ by
any changes considered can then be compared and the optimum
result chosen. The value of optimizing this quantity is to
minimize the inventory, yet still be able to satisfy demand. The
PA production line operates using a pull system so that widgets
are pulled from finished goods inventory and used in final
products. When widget inventories fall below the specified Re
Order Point (ROP) quantity, a production order is triggered and
new widgets are manufactured. The computer modeling will
6. begin at these inventory triggers and continue through the
manufacturing process. Due to this pull system approach, the
models will be built using the simulation program ARENA,
which can very accurately account for a demand-pull
environment. The models will be driven by data provided from
Company X factory time studies. When completed, DST
Consulting will provide Flextronics with a series of decision
support tools and analyses that will provide the following:
Easily updatable ARENA models of the entire PA
manufacturing and ordering processes. The ability to
dynamically change various parameters, such as MOQs and
ROPs, and view the impacts of these changes. A full report
detailing the interactions between Order Release Quantities,
Minimum Order Quantities, Reorder Points, and Cycle Times to
Replenish. The analysis will also include optimal Order Release
Quantity levels. Time permitting; a scheduling analysis will
also be performed. Minimize PA inventory levels while still
satisfying demand Company X will receive a presentation and
final report in May detailing the results of the project. A full
analysis of the outcomes will be included in the report, as well
as detailed recommendations.
(3)
Company X is a leading provider of financial widgets in Texas.
As a result of their growth and as an added service to their
clients, Company X also provides financial widgets for workers
outside of Texas, granted they meet certain requirements. It is
in this area, that the department of Financial Widget Oversight
(FWO), that Company X is operating inefficiently. Their core
business is in issuing widgets to clients inside of Texas, which
is handled very proficiently through the use of an effective
system. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the business,
Company X must rely heavily on a third party’s system. This
results in a very tedious and manual operation that results in
immensely higher cycle times for FWO processes. The higher
7. cycle times in turn result in a more expensive operation and a
flustered work force. The team will concentrate on improving
the FWO processes. Company X has provided specific “pain
points” that should be given special consideration, but every
process will be thoroughly analyzed to determine a more
efficient way of completing the tasks, with the ultimate goal of
reducing cycle times in all areas of the FWO. After carefully
reviewing a time-motion study provided by Company X, it is
clear that special attention will be given to the “generic”
process, as this is the area that utilizes the most time. In order
to effectively solve the inefficiencies in the FWO processes, the
team will utilize three valuable and tested Industrial
Engineering tools. Two simulation models using ARENA will
be built. The first model will expose any and all bottlenecks in
the current process so that more emphasis may be placed on
those steps of the process. Eventually, a second model will
serve as an explanatory one demonstrating how much time may
be saved by implementing the recommendations. A value stream
mapping of the process will be performed to determine what
steps are critical and which are repetitive and unnecessary.
Based on this tool, the team will proceed with designing
creative alternatives to current tasks. An economic analysis of
all recommendations will be constructed in order to substantiate
all proposals. At the conclusion of the project, Company X will
receive the following:
A visual, easy to understand value stream mapping model of
the FWO processes. A series of recommendation for future
improvements. An Arena model simulation of the current and
improved processes including all decision variables. A
thorough report that will have detailed information, including
an economic analysis of the impact of the changes recommended
and the potential benefits they could generate.
(4)
8. The Senior Design consulting team is looking forward to the
opportunity to work with Company X in their redesign of a
repair facility located in Texas. Our team believes the task is
essential to the smooth operation of Company X’s facility in the
future and will provide our team with an invaluable experience
working with Industrial Engineering principles in industry.
Company X is a leading manufacturer of widgets. In the recent
past, sales of Company X widgets have increased. As that batch
of widgets ages, they will require routine, but major,
maintenance to be performed at the Texas facility. Company X
engineers are currently in the process of retooling the facility to
move out non-related functions and focus on widget repair in
order to handle a forecasted increase in repair jobs. More
specifically, the facility will only be repairing the widget
accessories (WA). WA undergo an expected amount of wear
over their lifetime. During a normal course of operation, WA
are exposed to extreme conditions while maintaining exacting
tolerances; these conditions will cause the WA to become
damaged and the widgets to lose efficiency. In addition to
normal ware, WA will be damaged by coming into contact with
foreign objects. Therefore, WA must be repaired both on a
schedule and randomly after unexpected failures. Due to
Company X’s increase in widget sales in the recent past, an
increase in WA repairs are expected. In its present state, the
Texas facility is not expected to be capable of meeting future
demand. Company X has requested that the Senior Design
consulting team work in parallel with their engineers to produce
an independent solution to their facility issues; their hope is
that engineering students with no knowledge of Company X’s
current practices can bring fresh and innovative ideas to the
table. As defined by Company X, the main deliverable from the
Senior Design consulting team will be the design of a
manufacturing layout for their widget repair process. This
manufacturing layout will have a strong focus on incorporating
lean manufacturing principles. In order to produce an ideal
facility layout, several Industrial Engineering tools, such as
9. computer simulation and analytical models to include
relationship diagrams, will be used to analyze data provided by
Company X to better understand the interdependent
relationships between departments and processes within the
widget repair process. This analysis will be used to produce a
layout which will aid in making the repair process as lean as
possible. Next, the proposed layout will be modeled by the
simulation package, Arena. An Arena simulation will account
for many real-world variables, be flexible in both the design and
analysis of a layout, and will produce an accurate estimate of
the facility’s capabilities. Lastly, Arena will be used to simulate
batch sizes in order to increase the efficiency of both the
facility and its workers. Upon completion of the project in
May, deliverables to Company X will include: A facility layout
incorporating lean manufacturing principles Analysis of the
teams Arena model, not quantify operating characteristics under
a range of operating parameters. A recommendation on optimal
batch sizes for the new layout. All deliverables will be
presented to Company X through a Final Report and
Presentation on <date>. The Final Report will discuss in detail
all results, findings, and methodologies.
Citation
10 Engineering Project Proposal Examples – PDF, Word. (n.d.).
Retrieved from
https://www.examples.com/business/engineering-project-
proposal.html
Technical Writing as a Pharmacist
10. Submitted to:
Pre-Pharmacy Majors
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR, 97331
Submitted by:
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
WR 327, Section 017, Spring 2014
Pre-Pharmacy Major
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
April 15, 2014
ABSTRACT
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, a junior in pre-pharmacy at Oregon State
University, in her report
“Technical Writing As a Pharmacist” discusses how clear,
correct, concise writing and
an ability to research well is essential to a pharmacist. Xxxxxx
conducts an interview
with C hristina Buchman, PharmD, a resident pharmacist at
Oregon State University,
Student Health Service Pharmacy and reports her findings from
the interview. Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx provides a summary and methodology of the interview
along with a
11. discussion of her findings. She also analyzes a writing sample
provided by Dr.
Buchman. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx’s purpose is to show the reader the
importance of being
able to write effectively as a pharmacist and make her fellow
students aware of the
amount of writing a pharmacist does and the importance of
being able to do so very
clearly and concisely.
KEYWORDS: Technical writing, Pharmacist, Research.
INTRODUCTION
Purpose
When one thinks about a pharmacist, writing is not likely to be
the first thing that comes
to mind. Along with dispensing medications, pharmacists must
also provide written
information to patients and prescribers about medications. Their
ability to write to the
appropriate audience and do so clearly and concisely is key to
patients getting proper
medical care. This report takes a closer look at the types of
written communication
pharmacists do through the experience of C hristina Buchman,
PharmD, a resident
pharmacist at the Oregon State University, Student Health
12. Service Pharmacy. Anway
uses the information gathered to inform her fellow pre-
pharmacy students the amount and
types of writing that a pharmacist does and the importance of
being able to complete
them correctly.
Technical Writing As a Pharmacist 2
Education and Professional Background
Christina Buchman, PharmD, attended the University of
Montana for her undergraduate
degree and also completed pharmacy school there. She
graduated with her PharmD in
May of 2013. She is completing an optional residency at Oregon
State University. Along
with completing her residency Dr. Buchman also treats patients
one day a week at Salud
Medical Center in Woodburn, OR and has co-taught one of the
classes for the College of
Pharmacy at Oregon State University.
METHODOLOGY
On Monday April 7, 2014 at 1:30 PM, Xxxxxx Xxxxxx sent a
13. formal request for an
interview to Rebecca Russell, PharmD, with 15 sample
interview questions. Rebecca
Russell, PharmD replied and arranged a time for an interview
with her resident
pharmacist on Wednesday April 9, 2014 at 2:00 PM. The
interview took place at the
Oregon State University, Student Health Service Pharmacy and
lasted just under 20
minutes. Corinne and resident pharmacist C hristina Buchman,
PharmD discussed Dr.
Buchman’s education and the writing she uses in her career as a
pharmacist. A full list of
questions can be found in Appendix A. The conversation was
recorded as a voice note on
an iPhone to ensure no details were missed. The face-to- face
interview was very helpful
in understanding the interviewee; the non-verbal communication
cues were essential to
understanding the answers provided.
On April 9, 2014 at 4:21 PM a request for a writing sample as
discussed in the interview
was sent to Christina Buchman, PharmD. Dr. Buchman provided
a document she had
recently written in response to a question from a physician. The
Sample provided can be
found in Appendix B.
14. RESULTS
Types of Documents
As a pharmacist, Dr. Buchman states most of her writing “is
answering drug information
questions from providers. ” (Buchman, personal communication,
April 9,2014) The
questions are providers wondering if a medication can cause a
particular side effect or a
recommendation for an alternative medication when a patient
with a specific condition
has exhausted all of the conventional treatment options. Dr.
Buchman stated the method
and length of her documents vary with the provider, how in-
depth the question is, and her
relationship with the provider. She stated some she can just
send a quick email, whereas
others she will write them up formally. (Buchman, personal
communication, April 9,
2014)
Dr. Buchman attends several conferences and that she was
recently at American
Pharmacists Association (APHA) Conference in Orlando and for
that she had to create a
poster of her research project and present it there. She is hoping
to eventually publish her
research as a full manuscript. Dr. Buchman stated most
pharmacists eventually get some
15. sort of publishing done. (Buchman, personal communication,
April 9,2014)
Technical Writing As a Pharmacist 3
In addition to when she co-taught at Oregon State University,
Dr. Buchman also teaches
Continuing Education (CE) to providers. While teaching at
Oregon State University she
prepared lectures, handouts and tests. In doing her CE teaching
she stated she will often
use Power Point but it depends on what the facility requires.
Below is a table that
summarizes the writing that Dr. Buchman does and how often.
Document Type Frequency
Provider questions Weekly
Presentations Monthly/every other month
Tests/Handouts Not currently teaching at OSU
When asked how much of her time is spent writing Dr. Buchman
replied, “I have a
unique position because I’m the resident. I’m not just a staff
pharmacist. I don’t just work
out front and I end up doing a lot more of the writing
assignment s than most the other
16. pharmacist here. So, I probably spend 20% of my time just
doing that at least.”
(Buchman, personal communication, April 9,2014)
Audience, Technology and Writing Style
Dr. Buchman’s audience is usually other pharmacists, students,
or clinicians. The
programs that Dr. Buchman uses most in her writing are
Microsoft Word and Power
Point. She stated she uses a formal writing style and employs
the passive voice. For her
particular documentation style she uses a formal template to
“keep herself on track.”
(Buchman, personal communication, April 9,2014) When citing
her sources she follows
AMA guidelines. She stated she learned to write in pharmacy
school. It was required to
take specific class that taught her exactly how to do the types of
writing she does.
Research and Journal Articles
On using research in her writing Dr. Buchman states, “Always,
everything in medicine is
evidence based. So anytime a question is asked or I need to
present something I
thoroughly research it.” (Buchman, personal communication,
April 9,2014)
The professional Journals she reads are Journal of American
pharmacy association, New
17. England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and “whatever else strikes
her interest.” (Buchman,
personal communication, April 9,2014)
Advice
The advice on writing given by Dr. Buchman to students
wanting to enter the pharmacy
field is “ Learn to like it. You will write all the time. Even a
basic community pharmacist
will write all the time. Just to answer a quick question for a
doctor you will end up
writing it down and looking it up, so you have to know how to
find primary sources and
primary literature and how to use it to write an appropriate
response to another health
professional and come off intelligent. It can be the big
difference in what a provider
thinks of you and whether they would call you for advice about
something is how you
wrote something back to them. It can be as simple as chart note
that a doctor then pulls
up and looks at. If you sound intelligent in your note, and you
are thorough, they are
more likely to trust your judgment.” (Buchman, personal
communication, April 9,2014)
Technical Writing As a Pharmacist 4
18. WRITING SAMPLE ANALYSIS
The writing sample, found in Appendix B, is an actual response
w ritten by Christina
Buchman, PharmD to a question asked by a clinician regarding
a patient’s reaction to a
medication. The document includes a professional header with
the pertinent information.
She gives a pleasant introductory sentence and then begins to
summarize the information
presented to her by the clinician. Dr. Buchman then addresses
the questioned medication
reaction with cited research from several sources then goes on
to provide a
recommendation to an alternate therapy with cited sources on
dosing information and
safety. She closes with a brief conclusion and then includes her
references.
The sample is brief, progresses well and is easy to follow. It
lacks headers separating the
sections and is written more like a memo. The fact that it gives
background information
on the patient/reaction would make it usable by other clinicians
other than the treating
physician. Buchman uses passive voice and writes out the long
technical names/terms
before abbreviating them. The sample is understandable by mos
t anyone, but its clear the
19. audience is health care professionals. The purpose of the
document is to give an
alternative medication for treatment of a patient who had a
reactio n to the standard
treatment of tuberculosis.
CONCLUSION
Pharmacists not only fill prescriptions, but they also make
important contributions to
what medications are being prescribed by practitioners. They
need to be able to make
documents that are clear, correct and concise with good
research techniques. Pharmacists
communicate mostly through email but still write professionally
with correct tone, voice,
punctuation and grammar. Dr. Buchman stressed the importance
of learning to write well
as a pharmacist to convey your intelligence and abilities to your
colleagues. If you make
mistakes in your writing they are not likely to trust your
judgment when it comes to
recommendations on medications for patients.
20. Technical Writing As a Pharmacist 5
APPENDIX A
Interview Questions
Technical Writing As a Pharmacist 6
APPENDIX B
Writing Sample
Interview Questions:
1. Where did you receive your education? Are you a
RPh? Or a PharmD?
2. What kinds of writing are expected as a
pharmacist?
3. What are types of writing/documents you
produce? Emails, reports,
21. instructions, pressreleases, newsletters, grantapplications,
etc.? Print, web,
PPT etc.? Do you do any conference presentations?
4. What are the typical lengths of documents
you produce?
5. How oftendo you writeeach kind of document?
6. What percent of our time is spent writing?
Do you edit others work?
7. Do you use research when you write?
8. What technology do you use when writing?
9. Who are your audiences? (Internal/external,
manager/expert/technician/general reader)?
10. What formats and language do you use? Do you
use a particular
documentation style?
11. How are your documents distributed?
22. 12. Do you read any professional journals? If so,
which ones?
13. Do you writefor any professional journals?
14. Where/How did you learnto do thesekinds of
writing?
15. What advice about writing would you give
someone wanting to enterthis
profession?
Technical Writing As a Pharmacist 7
_____________________________________________________
___________________
______
Memorandum
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
STUDENT HEALTH CENTER PHARMACY
DRUG INFORMATION
_____________________________________________________
___________________
23. ______
DATE: January 22, 2014
TO: SHS clinicians
FROM: Christina Buchman, Pharm D
SUBJECT: Fever related to DOT for latent TB
Thank you for your question about the incidence of fever in
relation to receiving
isoniazid and rifapentine as once weekly directly-observed-
therapy (DOT) for latent
tuberculosis (TB).
The patient in question reported experiencing chills and fever as
well as a headache
2-3 hours after the first dose of INH and rifapentine DOT for
latent TB infection on
1/10/14. He did not see a provider or call the pharmacy when he
experienced these
symptoms but reported them when he presented for his next
dose. He was
counselled to see a provider right away if it occurred again after
that following dose.
He received the second dose as per protocol at 4pm and began
to feel very ill within
just a few hours and presented to the clinic for evaluation. He
reported feeling
worse after the second dose than he did following the first dose.
24. Isoniazid (INH) treatment is known to cause a fever in a
pproximately 1% of people
receiving the drug.1 Fevers associated with INH therapy often
occur after several
treatments, but may appear after the first dose.2 Fevers may or
may not be
associated with myalgias, rash, and hepatitis. There are several
case reports of INH -
induced fevers that resolve after discontinuation of the drug and
reappear within 2 -
3 hours of rechallenge with INH.2,3,4 Fevers resultant from
INH therapy are thought
to be a type of hypersensitivity reaction and therefore the drug
should be
discontinued, documented as an allergy in the medical record,
and not
readministered to the patient.2
Technical Writing As a Pharmacist 8
Rifapentine is not known to cause fever in patients.5
Isoniazid is the back-bone of therapy for all patients diagnosed
with TB and it can
become difficult to treat a patient that has a hypersensitivity
reaction to INH. The
CDC recommendation for treating latent TB in patients with a
documented INH
allergy or INH-resistant TB is daily rifampin for 4 months.6
Rifampin is dosed by
weight for these patients at 10mg/kg with a max dose of 600mg
daily. 6 The
recommendations for monitoring are similar to those of daily
25. INH of monthly visits
with provider/nurse to assess adherence and adverse effects.
In conclusion, INH-induced fever is a rare side-effect classified
as a hypersensitivity
reaction and should result in the discontinuation of therapy. The
patient should be
switched to daily rifampin for the continued treatment of latent
TB infection.
References:
1. Isoniazid. In: DRUGDEX® System [Internet database].
Greenwood Village,
Colo: Thomson Healthcare. Updated periodically.
2. Kumar KL, Reuler JB. Drug fever. West J Med
1986;144:753-755.
3. Salomaa ER, Ruokonen EL, Tevola K, Tala E. Pulmonary
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