Emerging Infectious Disease (4): Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

Chi-Fang You, MD; Han-Ping Ma, MD; Tzong-Luen Wang, MD, PhD; Aming Chor-Min Lin, MD

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Abstract --Before the discovery of specific antibiotics for the treatment of tuberculosis, there was no cure. Mortality of those pulmonary diseases was about 50%. The first specific anti-tuberculosis drug, streptomycin was discovered in the USA during 1944 and the various drug regimens were developed in 1980s. The mortality fell to less 5% and there was a 98% chance of cure. However, inadequate treatment or improper use of the anti-tuberculosis medications reswted in drug-resistant tuberculosis. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is resistant to two or more of the primary drugs used for the treatment of tuberculosis. The most common primary drugs sued for treatment tuberculosis are isoniazid and rifampicin. MDR-TB is not only more difficult to treat than drug-susceptible strains of TB but complex and expensive. The best way is treatment of tuberculosis with directly observed therapy system (DOTS). Along with the proper prescription of drugs, we believe that DOT monitoring will greatly reduce drug resistant TB.