[2,9] Prior to the widespread use of first-line LPA and routine reporting of specific INH resistance-conferring mutations, ethionamide was considered to be one of the active drugs used as part of standardised
MDR-TB treatment in SA.
Microscopic results revealed that among 1+ smear positives, at the time of diagnosis, of Cat-II pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 22 (37.3%) were found to have
MDR-TB status.
As a consequence, the treatment for
MDR-TB is longer - up to two years, compared to six months for drug-sensitive TB.
The initiative's partners are currently providing legal support to inmates in Malawi who have been treated for
MDR-TB in hospital, and who are now challenging their return to prison until their treatment is complete.In 2016, in Kenya, a case was brought concerning the legality of detaining people with TB, whose treatment was interrupted.
Presenting the transitional plan towards implementing the new
MDR-TB guidelines, he said the new drugs were found to be more effective, adding that the current treatment plan had a 70 per cent success rate, with about 20 per cent of patients dying while on treatment.
Definition of confirmed
MDR-TB case: [3] An
MDR-TB suspect who is sputum culture positive and whose TB is due to Mycobacterium TB that is resistant in vitro to at least isoniazid and rifampicin (the culture and DST result being from an RNTCP accredited laboratory).
Out of them 108 were of
MDR-TB and 110 were of drug sensitive TB on the basis of Gene-Xpert test.
(III) Articles that address prevalence of
MDR-TB and/or associated factors
Conclusion: Majority of
MDR-TB patients' attendants had drug-resistant tuberculosis and the rate of drug susceptible TB was low.
Further compounding this health disparity is the prevalence of multidrug-resistant TB (
MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) cases.
The STREAM study (Standardised Treatment Regimen of Anti-TB Drugs for Patients with
MDR-TB) showed that the nine-month shortened treatment regimen achieved favourable outcomes in almost 80 percent of those treated.