Initial therapy for tuberculosis in the era of multidrug resistance. Recommendations of the Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis.

These recommendations update previous CDC/American Thoracic Society (ATS) recommendations for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) among adults and children. The most notable changes are in response to the increasing prevalence of drug-resistant TB in the United States. These recommendations include the need for a) in vitro drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from all patients and reporting of these results to the health department, b) initial four-drug regiments for the treatment of TB, and c) initial directly observed therapy for persons with TB. Adherence to these recommendations will help prevent the occurrence of more cases of drug-resistant TB, reduce the occurrence of treatment failure, and reduce the transmission of TB in the United States.