Increased rates of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) has been reported from countries close to Denmark. This study evaluated the incidence of drug resistance in Denmark in order to determine the magnitude of the problem. Susceptibility testing was performed in isolates from 85.4% of all notified patients during 1991-1998. Epidemiological information was retrieved from the mandatory no...

OBJECTIVE Human tuberculosis (TB) has re-emerged at an alarming rate as one of the deadliest contagious diseases; not only in the developing world, but also in the developed countries. Its re-emergence indicates failure to control its transmission. What causes part of the alarm is the growing number of isolates displaying resistance to the first line drugs used in its control. The very high vol...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular characteristics of isoniazid resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), as well as its contribution to the dissemination of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in rural areas of eastern China. METHODS A population-based epidemiological study was conducted in two rural counties of eastern China from 2004 to 2005. In total, 131 iso...

We identified the genome sequences of two Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. They were resistant to rifampin and isoniazid, as determined by the agar proportion method, but were susceptible to isoniazid, as determined by the DNA array method. The genome sequences showed that a katG deletion led to the false diagnosis of isoniazid resistance by DNA array.

BACKGROUND Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) remains extremely difficult to treat because there are often few remaining active medications and limited diagnostic options to detect resistance. Resistance to isoniazid is typically caused by mutations in either katG or the inhA promoter. inhA mutations confer low-level resistance to isoniazid and cross-resistance to ethionamide while katG mutations...

times higher than in those from patients with no history of treatment. However, the prevalence of monoresistant strains was low (5.3%, 4.3%, 0.3%, and 4.3% for isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, and streptomycin, respectively) compared with the prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains whose rate reached a peak of 30.4%. Drug-resistant TB in countries with good national control programs, such a...

Multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis seriously threaten tuberculosis (TB) control and prevention efforts. Molecular studies of the mechanism of action of antitubercular drugs have elucidated the genetic basis of drug resistance in M. tuberculosis. Drug resistance in M. tuberculosis is attributed primarily to the accumulation of mutations in the drug target genes; these muta...

The objective of this study was to observe the prevalence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in HIV associated tuberculosis co-infected patients in Phnom Penh City. The isolates of M. tuberculosis were collected during active laboratory-based surveillance. Of the 98 isolates studied, M. tuberculosis resistance to isoniazid was seen in 23.5%, resistance to rifampicin was s...

INTRODUCTION This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), and to develop a diagnostic algorithm for newly-diagnosed TB patients. METHODS This is a retrospective medical chart review of 290 patients who were diagnosed with bacteriological-proven pulmonary TB between 2000 and 2006 in Ramathibodi Hospital, Thailand. Patient characteristics, r...

Introduction Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the causative agent of tuberculosis, has been a global threat to human beings for several decades. Treating become more difficult as prevalence drug-resistant increased globally. Evidence suggests that comprehensive landscape resistance mechanisms in MTB is ambiguous. More importantly, little known regarding series events connected before exposure ...