Drug-resistant TB is more difficult and more expensive to treat, and more likely to be fatal. Thus drug-resistance threatens the success of DOTS and global TB control. This strain in particular has been shown to cause extremely high mortality in immunosuppressed patients. Given that treatment of MDR-TB requires extensive resources and can take up to two years of chemotherapy per patient, efforts should be made to prevent the transmission of such strains. This combination is the concept of DOTS-Plus .
DOTS get people back to school, work and their families.
TB and Health TB is much more than a health concern. It is a complex socio-economic problem that impedes human development and traps the world's poorest and most marginalized in a vicious circle of disease and poverty. Confronting TB requires action across the health sector and combining efforts with relevant health issues. TB is the most common opportunistic infection among people with HIV and is a leading cause of death among people who are HIV positive. In more and more countries a dual epidemic of TB and HIV is emerging - fueled by each other.