Taking the Full Dose

When you are prescribed an antibiotic, doctors always remind you of the importance of taking the full course of the treatment. Often you will start to feel better after a few days, and then with the discomfort of the infection no longer at the forefront of your mind, you might ignore the remaining pills.

But (the doctor reminds you) some bacteria may still be alive when you start feeling better, and if you stop treatment then these hearty survivors will regroup and attack you will increased vigor—a new, drug-resistant strain of the infection. I don’t know that the leprosy returned to…