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Declining drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from elderly patients in Taiwan, 2000–2008

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Abstract

We retrospectively investigated the prevalence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates recovered from elderly patients and compared the drug resistance patterns between the elderly (≥65 years old) and adult (15–64 years old) patients. Data on the prevalence of drug resistance in clinical and non-duplicate isolates of MTB recovered from 2000 to 2008 were evaluated. Among the 3,186 non-duplicate MTB isolates found during the study period, 1,497 isolates were recovered from elderly patients. Thirty-eight (2.54%) isolates were multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB). The rates of resistance to isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF), ethambutol (EMB), streptomycin (SM), ofloxacin, rifabutin, any one drug-resistant (ADR), and multidrug-resistant (MDR) were significantly lower in isolates from the elderly than from adults (p < 0.05). Significant decreasing trends in resistance rates to EMB, SM, at least any one of the four first-line agents (ADR), and MDRTB were observed (p < 0.05) . In conclusion, elderly patients had a lower rate of anti-TB drug resistance than adults and a decreasing overall trend of anti-TB drug resistance was found in the elderly in recent years, but the higher rate of MDRTB in Taiwan continues to present a challenge for the control of TB in the elderly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan

    W.-L. Liu & C.-C. Lai

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei County Hospital, Taipei County, Taiwan

    S.-H. Lin

  3. Departments of Internal Medicine and Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Y.-T. Huang & P.-R. Hsueh

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei County, Taiwan

    C.-H. Liao

  5. Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan

    C.-K. Tan

Authors
  1. W.-L. Liu
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  2. C.-C. Lai
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  3. C.-K. Tan
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  4. S.-H. Lin
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  5. Y.-T. Huang
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  6. C.-H. Liao
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  7. P.-R. Hsueh
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Correspondence to P.-R. Hsueh.

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Liu, WL., Lai, CC., Tan, CK. et al. Declining drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from elderly patients in Taiwan, 2000–2008. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 29, 1413–1416 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-010-1019-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-010-1019-7

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