ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS DRUG RESISTANCE IN SOUTHEAST OF TURKEY

Objective: Tuberculosis is a globally prevalent life-threatening infectious disease. In this study we aimed to evaluate antibiotic suscebtibility rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains. Materials and methods: A total of 150 culture-positive samples were included in. Among culture positive samples 86 were Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and 64 were non-tuberculous mycobacterium. Of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolated samples 45 were Ziehl-Neelsen positive. Of 64 non-tuberculous mycobacterium isolated samples 15 were Ziehl-Neelsen positive. Mean age of the patients with tuberculosis was 37.74 +/- 20.53 and non-tuberculous mycobacterium isolated patients was 46.80 +/- 23.32. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed for the four first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs by BACTEC MGIT-960 instrument (Becton Dickinson). Of M. tuberculosis strains 41 % was resistant to at least one or more of the drugs (isoniasid 27.9%, ethambutol 8.13%, streptomycin 12.79 %, rifampicine 9.3 %). Of the strains 5.8 % was resistant to two, 3.4 % to three and 3.4 % to four drugs. Conclusion: Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and drug resistance of this microorganism continued to be a problem for our country and non-tuberculous mycobacterium species may become a problem in the future. We thought that a strong and cost-effective tuberculosis control programme contributes to reduce the incidence of drug resistance in the community.