The Patterns of Acquiring Anti-Mycobacterial Drug Resistance by Susceptible Strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

This study investigated the patterns of acquiring anti-mycobacterial resistance in individuals who were susceptible to all anti-mycobacterial drugs in their initial treatment. From 2010 to 2019, anti-mycobacterial drug susceptibility tests were conducted on patients who were referred to the Green Cross Laboratories. The test results of 594 anti-mycobacterial drug sensitivity tests were collected at 111 medical institutions. The first test results had 594 cases in which all anti-mycobacterial drugs were susceptible. Isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF), streptomycin (SM), and quinolone (QUI) showed the highest single-resistant conversion rates. Out of 56 patients, 17 patients (30.4%) showed a high conversion rate of resistance to both INH and RIF. The tracking period was analyzed from a minimum of 98 days to 1,862 days, and an average of 435.6 days for INH, and a minimum of 108 days to 1,673 days, with an average of 457.7 days for RIF. In the case of tuberculosis patients who are susceptible to all anti-mycobacterial drugs, it is considered that the conversion to resistant and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) must be confirmed through an anti-mycobacterial susceptibility test after 3 months. It is hoped that this study will help the national tuberculosis management project to improve public health.

Keywords

• anti-mycobacterial
• anti-tuberculosis
• multi-drug resistant tuberculosis
• resistance acquiring patterns