Why must TB medicines be taken regularly and for the duration prescribed?
TB bacteria die very slowly. Treatment, therefore, has to be taken for at least six months. Once treatment begins, the patient will probably start feeling well after only a few weeks. But the TB bacteria will still be alive in the body. The patient must therefore continue to take medicine until all the TB bacteria are dead, even though he or she feels better and has no more symptoms of TI3 disease. It can be very dangerous if the TB patient does not continue taking the medicines or is not taking medicine regularly. The TI3 bacteria will continue to multiply again and the patient will remain sick for a longer time and continue to infect others, The bacteria may also become resistant to drugs, and the most effective drugs which normally kill the TB, bacilli may therefore no longer work. Other types of drugs that may be needed to treat such patients are often much less effective, more expensive, have to be taken for a longer duration, and usually have serious side-effects. Many patients w
