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The Current Status of Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis in Korea  

Kim, Byoung-Ju (National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital)
Lee, In-Hee (National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital)
Lee, Duk-Hyung (National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital)
Bai, Gill-Han (Korean Institute of Tuberculosis)
Kong, Suk-Jun (National Mokpo Tuberculosis Hospital)
Lee, Sun-Hwa (NeoDIN Medical Institute)
Moon, Hae-Ran (Green Cross Reference Laboratory)
Lee, Kyoung-Ryul (Seoul Clinical Laboratories)
Lee, Jun-Young (Seobuk Hospital)
Park, Seung-Kyu (National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital)
Publication Information
Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases / v.60, no.4, 2006 , pp. 404-411 More about this Journal
Abstract
Purpose : Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an emerging threat to human beings. However, there is little data on the current status of MDR-TB in Korea. This study investigated the current status of MDR-TB in Korea using a survey of all the data from drug susceptibility tests (DST) performed across the country over the last three years. Method : The DST results between Jan. 2000 and Dec. 2002 from 7 laboratories, which were in charge of all antituberculous DSTs across the country as of March 2002, were collected and analyzed to determine the actual number of drug-resistant or MDR-TB patients, annual trend, degree and pattern of resistance against anti-TB drugs, etc. Results : Six laboratories used the absolute concentration method for DST and one used the proportional method. 59, 940 tests had been performed over the 3 year study period. The number of DST performed annually was 18,071, 19,950, and 21,919 in 2000-2002, respectively. The number of resistant tuberculosis patients (resistant against at least one anti-TB drug) had increased by 16.9% from 6,338 in 2000 to 7,409 in 2002. The rate of resistant tuberculosis among all DST results was 35.1% in 2000, 34.5% in 2001, and 33.8% in 2002. The number of MDR-TB patients (resistant against at least both isoniazid and rifampin) showed an increasing trend (14.5%) from 3,708 in 2000 to 4,245 in 2002. Conclusion : Approximately 4,000 MDR-TB cases are newly identified by DST annually and the number is showing an increasing trend. This study suggests that in order to cope with the current MDR-TB situation, the DST methods will need to be standardized and more aggressive measures will be required.
Keywords
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis; Drug susceptibility test;
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