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Abstract
Objective: Surveillance of drug resistance in tuberculosis is an important component of the tuberculosis control program. The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibilities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates to primary antituberculous agents and their resistance patterns.
Methods: BACTEC MGIT 960 (Becton Dickinson, USA) system was used for tuberculosis culture and susceptibility testing according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. During 2007 a total of 129 M. tuberculosis were isolated from 1147 samples and susceptibility testing was performed on 87 of them after duplicates were excluded, while during 2008, 94 M. tuberculosis were isolated from 1848 samples and susceptibility testing was performed on 70 of them.
Results: A total of 62% and 72% of the M. tuberculosis complex isolates were susceptible to all primary antituberculous agents in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Resistance to a single drug was 21% and multidrug resistance (MDR) was 5%. There were no differences between resistance rates in 2007 and 2008.
Conclusions: A follow up of drug resistance patterns in tuberculosis will be useful in determining treatment protocols and preventing drug resistance