Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a lung disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which kills around 1.5 million people each year and remains a serious challenge for global public health (WHO, 2015). Antibiotic drugs for treating TB have been available since the mid twentieth century, and currently implemented strategies for TB control rely on the efficacy of these drugs. Treatment of TB involves combination therapy – in which multiple drugs are administered together in part to improve killing efficacy. The ‘first- line’ drugs used in combination to treat tuberculosis are rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol, and streptomycin.