Multidrug resistance in new tuberculosis patients: burden and implications [Short communication]

• Published in: The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 511 - 513
• Main Authors: Royce, S., Falzon, D., van Weezenbeek, C., Dara, M., Hyder, K., Hopewell, P., Richardson, M. D., Zignol, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris, France International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 01-04-2013; International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
• Subjects: Antitubercular Agents - therapeutic use; Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Case Finding; Data processing; Disease Notification; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; Drug Susceptibility Testing; Health Policy; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Mycobacterium; Pneumology; Policy Making; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial infections; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant - diagnosis; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant - drug therapy; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant - epidemiology; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant - transmission; Universal Access; World Health Organization; Treatment resistance; Accessibility; Drug susceptibility test; Respiratory disease; drug susceptibility testing; Mycobacterial infection; universal access; Infection; Case study; Tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacteriales; Multiple resistance; Bacteriosis; Mycobacteriaceae; Bacteria; Actinomycetes; case finding
• ISSN: 1027-3719; 1815-7920
• DOI: 10.5588/ijtld.12.0286

In 2010, 30 countries with anti-tuberculosis drug resistance surveillance data were each estimated to have more than 700 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases among their notified TB cases. New TB patients comprised a median of 54% (interquartile range 45-67) of the
MDR-TB cases. The occurrence of MDR-TB in a new TB patient is a warning sign that MDR-TB is spreading in a community. While MDR-TB case-finding efforts should first prioritize previously treated patients, reaching universal access requires rapidly adding other risk groups, and then all new
TB patients. Epidemiological data as presented in this paper can help inform country scale-up plans.