Diagnostic and therapeutic Latinamerican guidelines for drug-resistant tuberculosis

An expert Latin-American consensus panel developed diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for drug-resistant tuberculosis in a regional context. The most concerning emerging resistances in M. tuberculosis are multidrug and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis; drug-resistant strains are selected through erroneous therapeutic schemes, inadequate quality of drugs and lack of therapeutic supervision. Diagnosis is possible in Latin-American through conventional bacteriology, first line drugs susceptibility testing and second line drugs testing in reference laboratories. Treatment can be achieved with standardized regimens or tailored upon available susceptibility testing, with second line drugs and the remaining useful first line drugs, with a minimum of four drugs schemes including an injectable drug in the initial phase.