Tuberc Respir Dis.  2006 Apr;60(4):404-411. 10.4046/trd.2006.60.4.404.

The Current Status of Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis in Korea

• Kim BJ
• Lee IH
• Lee DH
• Bai GH
• Kong SJ
• Lee SH
• Moon HR
• Lee KR
• Lee JY
• Park SK

• KMID: 1719365
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2006.60.4.404

Abstract

PURPOSE: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an emerging threat to human beings. However, there is little data on the current status of MDR-TB in Korea. This study investigated the current status of MDR-TB in Korea using a survey of all the data from drug susceptibility tests (DST) performed across the country over the last three years. METHOD: The DST results between Jan. 2000 and Dec. 2002 from 7 laboratories, which were in charge of all antituberculous DSTs across the country as of March 2002, were collected and analyzed to determine the actual number of drug-resistant or MDR-TB patients, annual trend, degree and pattern of resistance against anti-TB drugs, etc.
RESULTS
Six laboratories used the absolute concentration method for DST and one used the proportional method. 59, 940 tests had been performed over the 3 year study period. The number of DST performed annually was 18,071, 19,950, and 21,919 in 2000-2002, respectively. The number of resistant tuberculosis patients (resistant against at least one anti-TB drug) had increased by 16.9% from 6,338 in 2000 to 7,409 in 2002. The rate of resistant tuberculosis among all DST results was 35.1% in 2000, 34.5% in 2001, and 33.8% in 2002. The number of MDR-TB patients (resistant against at least both isoniazid and rifampin) showed an increasing trend (14.5%) from 3,708 in 2000 to 4,245 in 2002.
CONCLUSION
Approximately 4,000 MDR-TB cases are newly identified by DST annually and the number is showing an increasing trend. This study suggests that in order to cope with the current MDR-TB situation, the DST methods will need to be standardized and more aggressive measures will be required.

Keyword

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis; Drug susceptibility test

MeSH Terms

Humans
Isoniazid
Korea*
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant*
Isoniazid

Figure

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  Figure 1 The number of DST performed in 7 laboratories. *Tuberculosis resistant to at least one drug †Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

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