Decreasing prevalence of multi-drugs resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Nashik City, India

Abstract

Objective: In India, increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR) has aggravated the control oftuberculosis problem. In many urban and semi-urban regions of India, no surveillance data of multidrug resistance inMycobacterium tuberculosisis available.Methods: A surveillance study on multidrug resistance was carried out in semi-urban and rural regions in and aroundNashik City of Maharashtra, India. The surveillance study was conducted in this region found that the prevalence ofcombined resistance to first and second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs is remarkably high. The isolates of M. tuberculosiswas identified and subjected to drug susceptibility testing. The patterns of drug susceptibility of isolates of M. tuberculosisduring the periods 2000 and 2004 were compared with drug susceptibility patterns of the organisms during theperiod 2008 to 2011.Results: The 260 isolates identified as M. tuberculosis show mean drug resistance prevalence of 45.6% for more than anytwo drugs and the MDR rate as 37% in the years 2000 to 2004 whereas 305 isolates of the organism show mean drugresistance prevalence of 30.2% and the MDR rate as 25% in the years 2008 to 2011.Conclusion: The researcher found that, though the prevalence of multidrug resistance to the drugs tested is remarkablyhigh, it has come down noticeably during the past seven years due to efforts of State Government and strict implementationof treatment guidelines of WHO by the physicians. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2013; 3(1): 12-17Key words: MDR-TB, XDR-TB, DOTS, drug-resistance prevalence rate