Treating Tuberculosis: What Drugs, for How Long?

Excerpt

Effective drugs for treating tuberculosis have been available for decades. Even before the introduction of specific drug therapy, a gradual decline in incidence of the disease in the United States had begun earlier this century. Both factors have served to create an illusion among some health-care providers as well as the general public that tuberculosis no longer exists or, at worst, is a minor problem. Unfortunately, this perception is incorrect. In recent years the incidence of tuberculosis stopped declining in the United States and, in fact, is increasing alarmingly in some areas and in certain segments of the population (1).