Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: A Major Risk to Global Health Security Treatment

The continuing spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most urgent and difficult challenges facing global TB control. Patients who are infected with strains resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, called multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB, are practically incurable by standard first-line treatment. In 2012, there were approximately 450,000 new cases and 170,000 deaths because of MDR-TB. Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB refers to MDR-TB strains that are resistant to fluoroquinolones and second-line injectable drugs. The main causes of the spread of resistant TB are weak medical systems, amplification of resistance patterns through incorrect treatment, and transmission in communities and facilities. Although patients harboring MDR and XDR strains present a formidable challenge for treatment, cure is often possible with early identification of resistance and use of a properly designed regimen.