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Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

What Do We Do Now?

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Abstract

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) represents a threat to TB control programmes. Erratic and inappropriate use of currently available medications, HIV-TB coinfection, and concern about transmission of drug-resistant strains in the general population all contribute to a worrying picture. What do we do now? In the last few years, there has been considerable progress in the understanding of mechanisms of action and resistance to antituberculosis agents, and in establishing the value of directly observed therapy in preventing treatment failure. However, a limited effort has been devoted to the development of new active compounds or of rapid diagnostic tests, and their relevance to global tuberculosis control has been questioned.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Schweizerischer Nationalfonds grant 31-47251.96.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Diseases and Institute of Microbiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Amalio Telenti

  2. National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Michael Iseman

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  1. Amalio Telenti
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  2. Michael Iseman
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Correspondence to Amalio Telenti.

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Telenti, A., Iseman, M. Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis. Drugs 59, 171–179 (2000). https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-200059020-00002

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