title: Patterns of antituberculous drug resistance in Eastern Saudi Arabia: a 7-year surveillance study from 1/2003 to 6/2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the patterns of antituberculous drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients with pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in the Eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a retrospective study of antibiotic susceptibility of 1681 non-repetitive M. tuberculosis isolates from 1/2003 to 6/2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total patients, 41% (n=687) were Saudis and 59% (n=994) were non-Saudis. The pulmonary and extra-pulmonary specimens constituted 68% (n=1148) and 32% (n=533), respectively. The incidence of resistance was 15.5% to one or more of anti-tuberculosis drugs. The resistance rates to first-line drugs were as follows: streptomycin (10.4%), INH (9.8%), rifampicin (1.5%) and ethambutol (1.0%). Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis was present in 1.4% (n=24) of the sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  INH resistance in this study was relatively high, whereas the rate of MDR-TB was low. A rate of MDR-TB observed in this study was 1.4%. Thus, an empiric four-drug therapy is required to treat patients with tuberculosis in this area of Saudi Arabia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine & Chest, Diseases, Dammam Medical Complex (MOH), Saudi Arabia. dr_liaqatali@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Liaqat
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ali Chaudhry
authors.forename: Nagamani
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rambhala
authors.forename: Ali Saad
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Shammri
authors.forename: Jaffar A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Al-Tawfiq
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents
keywords: DST; Eastern Saudi Arabia; Incidence; MDR-TB; NTBCP; Prevalence; Resistance; SDR-TB; Tuberculosis; drug sensitivity test; multi-drug resistance tuberculosis; national tuberculosis control program; single drug resistance tuberculosis