Pattern of drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates to first-line antituberculosis drugs in pulmonary cases

CONTEXT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the human pathogen causes Tuberculosis (TB). It is a highly infectious and globally pandemic disease. The severity increases when the MTB becomes resistant to antituberculosis drugs. India is reported to be in the second place, with the highest number of drug-resistant TB cases. The treatment of drug-resistant TB is even more complicated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study comprises of 159 TB patients, in which 88 are reported to have drug-resistant TB (55.3%). All the patients are in the age group of 18–70 years. Patients having extrapulmonary TB and diabetes were excluded from the study. The collected samples were processed and stained for acid fastness and smear positivity. They were subjected to inoculation on Lowenstein–Jensen (LJ) slants. RESULTS: The results showed that out of the four drugs — Streptomycin, Isoniazid, Rifampicin, and Ethambutol — the resistant cases reported in Streptomycin were 45 (24.9%), whereas, in Isoniazid, Rifampicin, and Ethambutol, the resistant cases were 62 (34.2%), 27 (14.9%), and 47 (26.0%), respectively. Isoniazid showed the highest percentage of resistance among the patients. CONCLUSION: Effective measures such as convincing the patients to take the prescribed drugs and follow the five major strategies under the Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course (DOTS), could help in managing such cases.