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Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) is defined as infection caused by an organism resistant to both isoniazid and rifampin. Currently recommended treatment regimens are long, often poorly tolerated, and difficult to monitor. Treatment standardization has been recommended for MDRTB in low-income areas, which generally have low levels of resistance to second-line drugs.
As part of a TB treatment program in Bangladesh, researchers conducted a prospective observational study from May 1997 through December 2007 to examine the effectiveness of this strategy. Patients with laboratory-confirmed MDRTB were treated with one of six regimens based on enrollment date (i.e., without randomization). Each regimen differed from the previous one, usually…