Resistance to First and Second- Line Anti-tuberculosis Drugs
Tuberculosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis usually affects the lung but it can spread other organs or tissues. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is transmitted from person to person by respiratory aerosols produced by coughing. General characteristic of Mycobacterioum tuberculosis (Mtb):Shape :Slender, slightly curved rod, 2 - 4 µm in length and 0.2 - 0.5 µm in width, Non motile and non spore forming,Cell wall :Complex peptidoglycane arabinogalactan mycolate cell wall; 60% lipid. Stain :Poorly stained with Gram stain; neither Gram +ve nor Gram –ve, It is acid-fast because of the long chains of fatty acids called mycolic acids. Culture:They are aerobes,Grow slowly (15-20 hr ),Optimum temperature for growing is 37˚C,Optimum pH for growing is 6.4 - 7.0, Grow only on Löwenstein Jensen media,Colonies appear in 2-6 weeks
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Infections with multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis cause public health problems around the world. Regional epidemiological data on the drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolate (Mtb) is crucial to direct effective clinical therapy to treat patients and to curb tuberculosis spread. Antituberculosis susceptibility tests were conducted for 287 Mtbs including 63 MDRMtbs collected from 2011 to 2015 in southern Taiwan. Patients with tuberculosis were divided into newly diagnosed cases and previously identified based on their medical history. Almost no resistance of non-MDR-Mtbs to tested second-line antituberculosis drugs. Anti-tuberculosis treatment with pyrazinamide, ethambutol, fluoroquinolone, kanamycin, cycloserin and p-aminosalicylic acid can be used empirically for new applications
