Doctors treat tuberculosis (TB) with antibiotics to kill the TB bacteria. These medicines are given to everyone who has TB, including infants, children, pregnant women, and people who have a weakened immune system.

People who have TB that cannot be spread to others (latent TB) also receive treatment to prevent the infection from becoming active.

When treating active TB, health experts recommend:⁶

• Using more than one medicine to prevent multidrug-resistant TB. The standard treatment begins with four medicines given for 2 months.
• Continuing treatment for 4 to 9 months or longer if necessary. The number of medicines used during this time depends on the results of sensitivity testing.
• Using directly observed therapy (DOT). This means visits with a health professional who watches you every time you take your medicine. A cure for TB requires you to take all doses of the antibiotics. These visits ensure that people follow medicine instructions, which is helpful because of the long treatment course for TB.
• Trying a different combination of medicines if the treatment is not working because of drug resistance (when tests show that TB-causing bacteria are still active).
• Using different treatment programs for people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), people infected with TB bacteria that are resistant to one or more medicines, pregnant women, and children.

When treating latent TB, experts recommend:¹

• Using one medicine to kill the TB bacteria and prevent active TB. The standard treatment is isoniazid taken for 9 months. For people who cannot take isoniazid for 9 months, sometimes a 6-month treatment program is done.
• Treatment with rifampin for 4 months. This is an acceptable alternate treatment, especially for people who have been exposed to bacteria that is resistant to isoniazid.

Treatment for extrapulmonary tuberculosis

Treatment for tuberculosis in parts of the body other than the lungs (extrapulmonary TB) usually is the same as for pulmonary TB. You may need other medicines or forms of treatment depending on where the infection is in the body and whether complications develop.

You may need treatment in a hospital if you have:

• Severe symptoms.
• TB that is resistant to multiple-drug therapy.

What To Think About

For active TB, there are different treatment recommendations for people with HIV and TB, people with drug-resistant TB, children with active TB, and pregnant women with active TB.

If you miss doses of medicine or you stop treatment too soon, your treatment may go on longer or you may have to start over. This can also cause the infection to get worse or lead to antibiotic-resistant infections that are much harder to treat.

A cure for TB requires you to take all doses of the antibiotics. This may mean daily visits with a health professional who watches you take the medicine. This is known as directly observed therapy (DOT).