The death sentence that too often accompanies a diagnosis of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) can be commuted if an individualized outpatient therapy program is followed – even in countries with limited resources and a heavy burden of TB. A study conducted in Peru between 1999 and 2002 shows that more than 60 percent of XDR-TB patients not co-infected with HIV were cured after receiving the bulk of their personalized treatment at home or in community-based settings. The paper appears in the August 7, 2008 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
