Drug resistant tuberculosis in Estonia.
METHODS
The incidence of drug resistant tuberculosis in Estonia has increased rapidly during the last five to six years.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the drug resistance patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from tuberculosis patients in Estonia.


RESULTS
In 1994, 623 cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed in Estonia, 518 new cases with no previous history of tuberculosis, and 105 with a history of previous treatment for tuberculosis. All pulmonary M. tuberculosis isolates from 1994 were analysed for drug susceptibility. Of the 302 new cases (58.3%) that were culture verified, 28% had isolates resistant to one or more of the four drugs tested (isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin, ethambutol), and 9% had multi-drug resistant (resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin) strains.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of drug resistance in M. tuberculosis is high in Estonia.
Kruuner
A
A
Tartu University Lung Hospital, Estonia.
Sillastu
H
H
Danilovitsh
M
M
Levina
K
K
Svenson
S B
SB
Källenius
G
G
Hoffner
S E
SE
D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
D000995:Antitubercular Agents