Resistance to chemotherapeutic agents among strains of mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated in Chiang Mai

The strong clinical suspicion of drug resistant cases of tuberculosis at Chiang Mai Provincial Hospital led to sensitivity testing of strains of M.tuberculosis from 58 patients.The results showed that of 63 tests on strains isolated from 21 patients with a history of antituberculous chemotherapy,37% were resistant to one or more of the primary drug,INH,Streptomycin and PAS.Among 69 tests from 23 patients without a history of chemotherapy,17% showed resistance.The finding that 10 out of 23 patients without a history of chemotherapy showed resistance to at leastione medication suggested the possibillity of spread of resistant organisms in the community at large.The potential usefulness of rifampin was indicated by the finding of sensitivity of this antibiotic in all of 27 strains tested.These and other data presented on the paper indicate a nedd for development of a practical method of sensitivity testing which could be used routinely to achieve more rational approaches to therapy and control of tuberculosis