Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to drugs in Sao Vicente municipality

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to drugs. During the period of April/1998 to March/1999, clinical specimens from 235 respiratory syptomatic patients or pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosed who were attended at the Basic Health Units of Sao Vicente municipality were submitted to smear microscopy, culture, identification and susceptibility test. We found 101 (45,70%) positive samples in the culture exams. Among these, 87 (86,14%) belonged to the MTb complex with 11 (12,6%) showing a "suggestive" acquired resistance due to a previous treatment abandon. According to this analysis, the authors suggest, in the mentioned municipality, changes related to the criteria for tuberculosis diagnostic examination request, such as the introduction of culture and susceptibility test to every tuberculosis suspected patients or pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosed. This continuous monitoring procedure might allow actions of vigilance control of treatment abandon cases, drug resistance and the spread of multiresistant tuberculosis, contributing to a betterment of treatment effectiveness and improvement in the diagnosis quality.