About This Course 

Current Trends in Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis
Stephan L. Kamholz, MD, MACP 

A plenary session on drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) was held during the American College of Chest Physicians annual scientific meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The course (a part of Medscape coverage of this conference) provides a summary of the presentation made by Stephan L. Kamholz, MD, Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at North Shore University Hospital Center in Manhasset, New York.

The MDR state refers to resistance to at least rifampin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH), with or without resistance to other drugs. Drug resistance in M tb is primarily attributable to accumulation of mutations in drug target genes, which lead to the production of an altered target or to a change in titration of the drug. MDR-TB is associated with death rates of 50% to 80% and often with short disease span (4 to 16 weeks) from diagnosis to death.

The article provides an insight into molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, trends in resistance to anti-TB drugs and therapeutic and preventive interventions for MDR-TB.