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Volume 12, Number 5—May 2006
Letter

Drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Taiwan

Ruwen Jou*Comments to Author , Pei-Chun Chuang*, Ying-Shun Wu†, Jing-Jou Yan‡, and Kwen-Tay Luh§
Author affiliations: *Center for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; †Chest Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China; ‡National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China; §National Association of Tuberculosis, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

Main Article

Table

Drug resistance patterns in Taiwan, 1960–2004

Hospital* No. strains Study period Drug resistance (%)†
INH EMB RMP SM Any MDR Methods Reference‡
Primary drug resistance
A 162 1960–1962 13.4 – – 11.7 22.2 – Absolute concentration (6)
B 154 1962 8.4 – – 7.8 14.3 – (6)
B 557 1971–1972 22.6 – – 15.4 30.8 – Resistance ratio on SM; absolute concentration on INH and EMB (6)
B 1,914 1979–1982 8.4 0.1 0 9.2 17.9 – Absolute concentration (6)
B 1,924 1984–1988 6.8 0.4 0.2 5.0 9.9 – Resistance ratio (1984–1986); absolute concentration (1986–1988) (6)
B 1,935 1990–1995 9.2 0.7 1.5 5.7 12.3 1.2 Absolute concentration (6)
B 249 1996 12.0 0.8 2.0 4.8 16.1 1.6 Absolute concentration (7)
C 254 1996–1999 4.7 5.9 5.9 11.0 22.0 1.6 Proportion (8)
D 456 2001–2002 14.9 2.6 3.3 11.4 20.6 2.4 BACTEC 960 (9)
E 190 2001–2002 11.1 5.8 2.1 5.3 16.8 2.1 Proportion (6)
F 611 2002–2004 6.8 0.8 1.8 6.2 12.8 1.8 Proportion NA
Acquired drug resistance
B 200 1996 63.0 28.5 46.5 21.5 67.0 46.0 Absolute concentration (7)
C 199 1996–1999 25.6 11.1 32.2 17.1 49.2 15.1 Proportion (8)
B 183 2000–2001 37.7 10.9 25.1 17.5 42.6 24.6 Absolute concentration (10)
D 57 2001–2002 31.6 15.8 17.5 19.3 36.8 15.8 BACTEC 960 (9)
E 62 2001–2002 54.8 33.9 45.2 17.7 64.5 45.2 Proportion (6)
F 324 2002–2004 50.9 12.6 44.4 17.9 55.8 42.2 Proportion NA
Combined drug resistance
G 942 1982–1986 20.4 15.3 8.8 9.8 27.8 8.1 Proportion (11)
A 651 1990–1992 14.7 10.3 10.6 11.2 22.6 8.3 Proportion (9)
G 884 1992–1996 20.9 12.8 11.8 9.1 28.9 10.1 Proportion (11)
B 1,091 1996 31.5 11.4 18.2 11.9 35.5 17.3 Absolute concentration (7)
C 453 1996–1999 13.9 8.2 17.4 13.7 34.0 7.5 Proportion (8)
H 693 1996–2000 35.9 15.7 13.4 28.6 52.4 11.4 Proportion (12)
I 1,411 1998–2002 19.0 15.7 6.1 10.0 30.5 5.1 Proportion (13)
D 513 2001–2002 16.8 4.1 4.9 12.3 22.4 3.9 BACTEC 960 (9)
E 252 2001–2002 21.8 12.7 12.7 8.3 28.6 12.8 Proportion (6)
F 935 2002–2004 22.2 5.2 16.5 10.2 27.6 15.8 Proportion NA

*A, Taipei Veterans General Hospital (medical center); B, Taiwan Provincial Chronic Disease Control Bureau (referral center); C, Taipei Municipal Chronic Disease Hospital (referral center); D, Changhua Christian Hospital (medical center); E, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital (medical center); F, Chest Hospital (referral center); G, Chang–Gung Memorial Hospital (medical center); H, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (medical center); I, National Taiwan University Hospital (medical center).
†INH, isoniazid; EMB, ethambutol; RMP, rifampin; SM, streptomycin; Any, resistance to any 1 of INH, EMB, RMP, or SM; MDR, resistance to at least INH and RMP.
‡NA, not available.

Main Article

References
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Main Article

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