Appearance of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Rural Tennessee
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1995
Description
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DRTB) is a growing national health concern in both urban populations and rural areas and is exacerbated by the growing epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Between 1989 and 1992, 7 cases of DRTB (5 with multidrug-resistance) were diagnosed in an eight-county region of East Tennessee. During 1990 and 1991 alone, 5 of 100 patients with tuberculosis had drug-resistant strains (5%). All 7 patients with DRTB had 100% resistance to isoniazid; 5 also had resistance to streptomycin, 2 to rifampin, and 1 to pyrazinamide and ethambutol. All patients were white, U.S.-born, and without evidence of HIV infection. Contact investigation revealed that more contacts of patients with DRTB (13 of 74,18%) were infected than were contacts of patients with drug- sensitive tuberculosis (46 of 290,16%). Our study demonstrates that DRTB is not confined to geographically distinct areas, but may be a subtle and easily missed diagnosis in presumably low-risk rural populations.
Citation Information
Mehta, Jay; Diaz, Constantino; Guha, Bhuvana; Harvill, Leo; and Krishnaswamy, Guha. 1995. Appearance of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Rural Tennessee. Southern Medical Journal. Vol.88(1). 60-64. https://doi.org/10.1097/00007611-199501000-00008 PMID: 7817229 ISSN: 0038-4348