Drug Resistance Rates in Newly Diagnosed Adult Male Patients with Tuberculosis

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine drug resistance rates in newly diagnosed military recruits with tuberculosis (TB). Material and Methods: Newly diagnosed, culture positive military men with TB who were followed up in our hospital between December 2006 and January 2010 were included in the study. Twenty nine subjects who were evaluated as recurrence were excluded. Drug susceptibility test (DST) was performed with BACTEC 460 TB in all cases. Results: DST was run in 257 cases. Mean age of the cases (all males) was 21.8 +/- 2.9 years. Smear and culture was positive in 197 cases and only culture was positive in 43 cases. While resistance to at least one drug was detected in 19,1% of the cases. Resistance to isoniazide (H), rifampicin (R), ethambutol (E), and streptomycin (S) was present as 15,2%, 5.8%, 6.6% and 2.7%, respectively. There was multi-drug resistance (min H + R) in 12 cases (4,7%). Other resistance rates were 0.8% for H + S, 0.4% for H + E, %1,6 for H + R + E and 1.9% for H + R + E + S. Conclusion: While the level of resistance was high to 14 and H-R in military recruits with TB who represented the young male population of the country, resistance to other drugs or combinations was at acceptable levels. High-level multi-drug resistance seemed to have no clinical implication. Cure was achieved in most of these patients with conventional treatment scheme.