BACKGROUND Tuberculosis continues to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide and in the American region. Although multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) remains a threat to TB control in Panama, few studies have focused in typing MDR-TB strains. The aim of our study was to characterize MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates using PCR-based genetic markers. METHODS From 20...

Pyrazinamide is important in tuberculosis treatment, as it is bactericidal to semidormant mycobacteria not killed by other antituberculosis drugs. Pyrazinamide is also one of the cornerstone drugs retained in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). However, due to technical difficulties, routine drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for pyrazinamide is, i...

Keertan Dheda and colleagues (May 22, p 1798) report extremely poor treatment outcomes for patients with extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis in South Africa and conclude that prevention of XDR tuberculosis through strengthening of tuberculosis pro grammes overall should be prioritised. Most patients diagnosed with XDR tuberculosis in this cohort (72%) had previously been diagnosed wit...

BACKGROUND The spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) strains has been a big challenge to the TB control and prevention in China. Knowledge about patterns of drug resistance in TB high-burden areas of China is crucial to develop appropriate control strategies. We conducted a comprehensive investigation of the resistance pattern of M. tub...

Recent reports have shown that certain bacterial strains attain the New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) enzyme and become resistant to a broad range of antibiotics. Similarly, more dangerous "superbugs" of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensive drug resistant (XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains are gradually emerging through rapid genetic mutation caused by prescription non-compli...

BACKGROUND Evidence is sparse regarding the optimal construction of regimens to treat multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis disease due to strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to at least both isoniazid and rifampin. Given the low potency of many second-line antituberculous drugs, we hypothesized that an aggressive regimen of at least 5 likely effective drugs during the intensive ph...

background: transmission of mycobacterium tuberculosis ( m. tuberculosis ) can occur in different ways. furthermore, drug resistant in m. tuberculosis family is a major problem that creates obstacles in treatment and control of tuberculosis (tb) in the world. one of the most prevalent families of m. tuberculosis is haarlem, and it is associated with drug resistant. our objectives of this study ...

INTRODUCTION Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has emerged as a major clinical public health threat and challenges the national TB control program in Malaysia. Data that elaborates on the risk factors associated with the development of MDR-TB is highly limited in this country. This study was aimed to determine the risk factors associated with the development of MDR-TB patients in penins...

Two decades ago, WHO declared tuberculosis a global emergency, and invested in the highly cost-effective directly observed treatment short-course programme to control the epidemic. At that time, most strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were susceptible to first-line tuberculosis drugs, and drug resistance was not a major issue. However, in 2013, tuberculosis remains a major public health conc...

AIMS To determine the delay in diagnosis of multidrug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB), the correlation between drug susceptibility patterns of adult-child contact pairs, the effectiveness of treatment, and the outcome in these children. METHODS MDR M tuberculosis culture results of children were prospectively collected during a four year period in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, ...