“…Persistent bacilli are not necessarily resistant to drugs, but may have slow or irregular metabolism. By finding favorable conditions that compromise bacillary destruction, such as the low immunological conditions caused by AIDS, diabetes, alcohol abuse, neoplasms, malnutrition and the use of corticosteroids, they become metabolically active and multiply again, facilitating the development of relapses 6,8,9 . Late relapses are more associated with exogenous reinfection, especially in regions where incidence is high and social conditions are poor, which exposes individuals to new infections 2,10,11 .…”