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Drug-Resistant TB

TB bacteria can become resistant to the medicines used to treat TB disease. This means that the medicine can no longer kill the bacteria.

Resistance to TB drugs can occur when these drugs are misused or mismanaged. Examples include

  • when patients do not complete their full course of treatment;
  • when health-care providers prescribe the wrong treatment, the wrong dose, or wrong length of time for taking the drugs;
  • when the supply of drugs is not always available; or
  • when the drugs are of poor quality.

Multidrug-Resistant TB (MDR TB)

Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) is TB that is resistant to at least two of the best anti-TB drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin. These drugs are considered first-line drugs and are used to treat all persons with TB disease.

Extensively Drug-resistant TB (XDR TB)

Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB) is a relatively rare type of MDR TB. XDR TB is defined as TB that is resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, plus resistant to any fluoroquinolone and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (i.e., amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin).

Because XDR TB is resistant to first-line and second-line drugs, patients are left with treatment options that are much less effective.

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