What Are The Chances Of TB Recurrence After Stopping Medications?

Posted on Fri, 15 Jul 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 15 Jul 2016 Answered on

Thu, 4 Aug 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi,
my mother stopped TB drugs exactly one year ago after taking it for 1 year as prescribed by the doctor.
Please tell me is she totally safe from recurrence?
Thanks.

Answered by Dr. Divakara (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Less likely but definitely not totally safe.

Detailed Answer:
HI

Thanks for posting your query.
Apologies for delayed response.

Well since she has taken full course of medication , there is high probability that there shall not occur any recurrence. Now let me introduce you to two terminologies here .

Recurrence can be due to relapse or re infection.

Relapse : It means the recurrence has happened due to the same bacteria which had caused TB in your mother . This indicates either a partial response to previous treatment or inadequate duration of treatment.

The risk of relapse in your mother's case is very negligible.

Re-Infection : This is a repeat TB infection due to exposure to TB bacteria from an infected patient. This risk of this happening is as good as that for any person.

So in my opinion , the risk is very less but can't tell that she is totally safe from recurrence.

Hope this information was useful to you.
Any clarifications feel free to ask.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Veerisetty Shyamkumar