Interim Treatment Outcomes of DR-TB Cases

There are two main interim treatment outcomes that can occur during Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment. These are:

Bacteriological Conversion: This occurs after bacteriological confirmation of TB in at least two consecutive cultures (applicable for DR-TB and Drug-sensitive (DS-TB)) or smears (applicable for DS-TB only), taken on different occasions, at least 7 days apart, are found to be negative.

Bacteriological Reversion: This occurs when at least two consecutive cultures (applicable for DR-TB and DS-TB) or smears (applicable for DS-TB only), taken on different occasions, at least 7 days apart, are found to be positive, either after the initial conversion or for patients without bacteriological confirmation of TB.

For defining treatment failed, bacteriological reversion is considered only when it occurs in the continuation phase.

Time-to-culture conversion is calculated as the interval between the date of DR-TB treatment initiation and the date of the first of these two negative consecutive cultures taken 7 days apart (date of sputum specimens collected for culture should be used).

Resources

• Guidelines for Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant Tuberculosis in India, March 2021.
• WHO Consolidated Guidelines on Tuberculosis: Module 4 – Treatment: Drug-resistant TB Treatment, 2020.

Kindly provide your valuable feedback on the page to the link provided HERE