The British Thoracic Society (BTS) said patients with resistant TB strains should only be treated by experienced physicians in hospitals with full isolation facilities.

Non-compliant patients, including the homeless, the mentally ill and drug and alcohol abusers, should receive "Directly Observed Therapy" (DOT) in which health workers or friends watch patients take their medicine, said the Society.

Strains of TB resistant to most antibiotics are already gaining a foothold in eastern Europe and pose a serious global health threat.

The BTS presented its guidelines for averting the danger in the UK at its summer meeting in Edinburgh.

The Society also recommended that:

• All TB patients must be notified and seen by a lung physician experienced in dealing with the disease;

• A minimum of one full-time TB nurse or health visitor with full clerical support should be available for each of 50 TB cases per year in every district;

• Six-month courses of treatment should be offered incorporating four different drugs taken on a daily or three times a week basis;

• Children with TB should be treated by a paediatrician with experience of the disease, or by a general paediatrician in conjunction with a TB specialist.

A disease of today

Dr Peter Ormerod, chairman of the Joint TB Committee of the British Thoracic Society, said: "TB is a disease of today and has not been confined to the history books. With more than 6,200 new cases of this disease last year in the UK, we cannot be complacent.