And yet, despite all this, it is curable. WHO has issued a warning on the growing risk of an Asian-wide tuberculosis epidemic. Lives are at stake, and so are livelihoods. The DOTS program puts the onus on the health-care system, with health officials required to observe patients taking their medicine each day for six months. This six-month regimen is vital.
Patients often stop taking the medication once they feel better.
But they may not actually be cured. 15 other people in a year. TB is spread through breathing in infected particles. Not only do sufferers spread infection, their partial exposure to anti-tuberculosis drugs causes the bacteria to develop resistance. No one is safe or immune from the possibility of infection.