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Treatment


Tuberculosis (TB) can be treated. Before treatment, it is important to know whether you have active TB disease or latent TB infection (LTBI).

Latent TB Infection Treatment

People with latent TB infection do not have symptoms, and they cannot spread TB bacteria to others. However, if latent TB bacteria become active in the body and multiply, the person will go from having latent TB infection to being sick with TB disease. For this reason, people with latent TB infection should be treated to prevent them from developing TB disease.


 

Latent TB Infection Treatment

TB Disease Treatment

It is very important that people who have TB disease are treated, finish the medicine, and take the drugs exactly as prescribed. If they stop taking the drugs too soon, they can become sick again; if they do not take the drugs correctly, the TB bacteria that are still alive may become resistant to those drugs. TB that is resistant to drugs is harder and more expensive to treat.

TB Disease Treatment