How do patients who fail first-line TB treatment but who are not placed on an MDR-TB regimen fare in South India?

Setting: Seven districts in Andhra Pradesh, South India.

Objectives: To a) determine treatment outcomes of patients who fail first line anti-TB treatment and are not placed on an multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) regimen, and b) relate the treatment outcomes to culture and drug susceptibility patterns (C&DST).

Design: Retrospective cohort study using routine programme data and Mycobacterium TB Culture C&DST between July 2008 and December 2009.