Drug Resistance Patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates from Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in the Sudan

Purpose: The antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of 200 isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, recovered from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in the Sudan, was determined against the first-line antituberculosis drugs. Methods: Isolates were recovered from smear-positive sputum samples and confirmed biochemically and by PCR. Drug resistance of the isolates to isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF), streptomycin (STM) and ethambutol (EMB) was measured using Lowenstein-Jensen proportion method. Results: Only 67 (33.5%) isolates were found sensitive to all drugs. Thirty-five (17.5%) isolates were resistant to INH, 31 (15.5%) to RIF, 43 (21.5%) to STM and 24 (12%) to EMB. Twenty-one (10.5%) isolates were multidrug-resistant (at least to both INH and RIF), of which 9 (4.5%) were resistant to the four drugs. Five (2.5%) isolates were resistant to different combinations of three drugs. Conclusion: This study demonstrated a higher prevalence of multidrug resistance amongst PTB isolates of M. tuberculosis as compared to the previous reports from the Sudan. It ensures the need to monitor the changes of drug resistance in PTB in various states in order to timely implement appropriate treatment regimen.