PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - WW Yew
AU  - CH Chau
TI  - Drug-resistant tuberculosis in the 1990s
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.95.08071184
DP  - 1995 Jul 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 1184--1192
VI  - 8
IP  - 7
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/8/7/1184.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/8/7/1184.full
SO  - Eur Respir J1995 Jul 01; 8
AB  - There has been an upsurge of tuberculosis in many parts of the world in the past decade. The high rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis currently reported in many countries are alarming. The most catastrophic phenomenon is the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These organisms have caused epidemic outbreaks in nosocomial and health-care settings in the USA and some European countries. In addition to immigration, poverty, alcoholism and intravenous substance abuse, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has also had a significant impact on the prevalence of drug resistance, since amongst these patient groups a common factor giving rise to drug resistance is noncompliance. Rapid drug susceptibility tests are needed, and effective chemotherapy regimens with newly developed drugs in combination with traditional second-line antituberculosis agents for established multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are urgently being sought. There is also a quest for other novel modalities of therapy. Measures should be actively adopted to prevent the development of drug resistance. Well formulated short-course chemotherapy as initial treatment and ensurance of compliance are the most important components. The organization of a national tuberculosis control programme with a sound and adequately functioning infrastructure remains the most effective strategy to combat the resurgence of tuberculosis and to curtail drug resistance.