Treatment of 171 Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis Resistant to Isoniazid and Rifampin

Modern chemotherapy, appropriately prescribed and administered, cures 98 to 99 percent of cases of previously untreated pulmonary tuberculosis if the disease is caused by drug-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis 1 . Tubercle bacilli not previously exposed to antituberculosis drugs may manifest drug resistance as a result of random mutation 2 . Whereas such resistance can be overcome by appropriate multiple-drug regimens, inadequate antimicrobial therapy can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant strains. These resistant bacilli can in turn be passed on to previously uninfected persons, who may subsequently contract tuberculosis that is initially drug-resistant. Early in the chemotherapeutic era, 1 to 3 percent of . . .