The Global Threat of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

Abstract

In this issue of the Journal, Pablos-Méndez et al., on behalf of the World Health Organization–International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Working Group on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance, report data on drug resistance in 35 countries or regions.¹ Among patients with no history of prior treatment, a median of 9.9 percent (range, 2 to 41 percent) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains were resistant to at least one drug. Among patients with histories of prior treatment for more than one month, the prevalence of resistance to any drug ranged from 5.3 to 100 percent, and the prevalence of multidrug resistance (defined . . .