Previously Treated TB Patients

All patients with suspected or confirmed MDR-TB should be referred to a chest physician and treated following WHO's Guidelines for the programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

International recommendations for treatment decisions are described below, however, national guidelines should be followed

• If rapid methods are available treatment should be based on the DST results. WHO recommends that all previously treated TB patients receive a Xpert MTB/RIF assay as the first diagnostic test.


• If conventional DST is available then patients will begin a retreatment regimen or a MDR- TB regimen depending on their risk for MDR-TB (based on drug resistance survey (DRS) data and country guidelines). If there are no DST capabilities available then a retreatment regimen should be used and a standardized MDR-TB regimen should only be used in very high risk individuals.