At the present time tuberculosis is one of the most important infections in Korea. Analysis of antituberculosis drug susceptibility test results can provide clinicians very important information for the empirical treatment of patients because the
report
of test results requires 4 weeks. In this study the results of antituberculosis drug susceptibility test of 150 cases at Wonju Christian Hospital during the years 1989 to 1992 were retrospectively analysed to determine the trend of
antituberculosis
drug
susceptibility. The procedure of drug susceptibility test was based on the absolute concentration method and the tests were done in Lowenstein-Jensen medium. The resistance rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to one or more drugs decreased from
84.0% in
1989 to 59.6% in 1992, but that of M. tuberculosis with multiple resistance to four or more drugs were no significant change from 24.0% in 1989 to 22.7% in 1992. Changes of resistance rate to individual drug were 76.0% to 57.4% in isoniazid,
64.0%
to
55.3% in rifampicin, 12.0% to 12.8% in streptomycin, 44.0% to 36.2% in ethambutol, 4.0% to 14.9% in kanamycin, 0% to 10.6% in ethionamide, 8.0% to 2.1% in cycloserine, 24.0%to 6.4% in paraaminosalicylic acid, 24.0% to 27.7% in pyrazinamide,
respectively. It is concluded that the resistance rate of m. tuberculosis has been decreasing tendency, but no significant change of multiresistant M. tuberculosis was observed in Kangwon area.
|