What Is Drug-Resistant TB?
Some people with
tuberculosis (TB) do not get better with
tuberculosis treatment because their disease is caused by a TB strain that is resistant to one or more of the standard tuberculosis medicines. This is known as drug-resistant TB.
Drug-resistant TB is more common in people who:
- Have spent time with someone with drug-resistant TB
- Do not take their medicine regularly
- Do not take all of their medicine as prescribed
- Develop active TB again, after having taken TB medicine in the past
- Come from areas where drug-resistant TB is common.
Sometimes the tuberculosis bacteria become resistant to two or more of the most important medicines: isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF). This is called multidrug-resistant TB. This is a very serious problem. People with multidrug-resistant TB must be treated with several antibiotics every day for up to two years. The bacteria must respond to at least three of these other antibiotics. These medicines are not as good as the usual medicines for TB, and they may cause more side effects. Also, most people with multidrug-resistant TB must see a TB expert who can closely observe their treatment to make sure it is working.
Even with this treatment, between four and six out of 10 patients with multidrug-resistant TB will die, which is the same rate seen with TB patients who are not treated.
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