Figure 3.

Kinetics of tuberculosis treatment. Here we consider a heterogeneous population of naturally occurring M. tuberculosis (Mtb) as an infectious dose. After the start of chemotherapy, there can be three possible outcomes: eradication of the disease (desired outcome), partially effective longer treatment due to the emergence of persister bacteria, and failure of the treatment due to the emergence of predominantly resistant Mtb. The presence of persister bacterial populations can be exemplified by a classic biphasic kill curve after the start of treatment: a brief period of rapid killing followed by a delayed killing.