Interventions for Tuberculosis Control and Elimination
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The large bulk of tubercle bacilli in a patient with tuberculosis is rapidly multiplying and in the extracellular space. Failing to kill this population results in treatment failure. A much smaller compartment of bacilli is intracellularly located and has low metabolic activity. Failure to kill these results in relapse after treatment cessation. It is also these latter bacilli which require the long duration of tuberculosis treatment.
