Primary resistance to antituberculosis drugs: a national survey conducted in Côte d'Ivoire in 1995-1996. Ivoirian Study Group on Tuberculosis Resistance.
METHODS
A national survey of resistance to the antituberculosis drugs used in Côte d'Ivoire was conducted in 1995-1996.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the rate of primary resistance to antituberculosis drugs.


METHODS
Consecutive new tuberculous patients with positive smear were recruited from tuberculosis centres and rural health centres. Drug susceptibility testing was performed according to the proportion method. Positive cultures were tested against streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol. All resistant strains and 10% of all randomly sampled cultures were sent to an external laboratory for quality control. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests were performed for consenting patients at the tuberculosis centres.


RESULTS
Among the 430 samples, 320 were available for analysis. Primary resistance to antituberculosis drugs was observed for 13.4% of the patients (43/320); multidrug resistance (to at least isoniazid and rifampicin) was observed for 5.3% of the patients; 14.2% of HIV-negative and 16.2% of HIV-positive patients were resistant to at least one antituberculosis drug (P = 0.70).


CONCLUSIONS
This study is representative of antituberculosis drug resistance in Côte d'Ivoire. The rate of primary resistance is high and emphasises the need for a sentinel survey of tuberculous resistance. The National Tuberculosis Control Programme needs to make improvements in its management of tuberculosis cases.
Dosso
M
M
Laboratoire de Bacteriologie, Institut Pasteur de Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan.
Bonard
D
D
Msellati
P
P
Bamba
A
A
Doulhourou
C
C
Vincent
V
V
Peyre
M
M
Traore
M
M
Koffi
K
K
Coulibaly
I M
IM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000453:epidemiology*
D000995:Antitubercular Agents