title: Declining drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from elderly patients in Taiwan, 2000-2008.
abstract: We retrospectively investigated the prevalence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates recovered from elderly patients and compared the drug resistance patterns between the elderly (≥65 years old) and adult (15-64 years old) patients. Data on the prevalence of drug resistance in clinical and non-duplicate isolates of MTB recovered from 2000 to 2008 were evaluated. Among the 3,186 non-duplicate MTB isolates found during the study period, 1,497 isolates were recovered from elderly patients. Thirty-eight (2.54%) isolates were multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB). The rates of resistance to isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF), ethambutol (EMB), streptomycin (SM), ofloxacin, rifabutin, any one drug-resistant (ADR), and multidrug-resistant (MDR) were significantly lower in isolates from the elderly than from adults (p < 0.05). Significant decreasing trends in resistance rates to EMB, SM, at least any one of the four first-line agents (ADR), and MDRTB were observed (p < 0.05) . In conclusion, elderly patients had a lower rate of anti-TB drug resistance than adults and a decreasing overall trend of anti-TB drug resistance was found in the elderly in recent years, but the higher rate of MDRTB in Taiwan continues to present a challenge for the control of TB in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W-L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: C-K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: S-H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Y-T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: P-R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hsueh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents