Therapy of tuberculosis.

Despite its great decline in recent years as a cause of death, tuberculosis remains a curable and preventable disease. Remarkable progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis and management of both pulmonary and extrathoracic disease. With the availability of multiple bactericidal drugs the length of treatment has been considerably shortened, while maintaining the high cure rate and low relapse rate. With the transfer of the treatment from the sanitoriums and specialized hospitals to mainstream outpatient medicine, it is incumbent upon all physicians who treat tuberculous patients to understand the actions of each drug and the most effective combinations.