Overcoming drug resistance for tuberculosis. (November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Poce, Giovanna; Biava, Mariangela
• Is Part Of: Future microbiology. Volume 10:Number 11(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 1735
• Page End: 1741
• Publication Date: 2015-11
• Subjects: drug resistance -- MDR-TB -- tuberculosis -- XDR-TB; Microbiology -- Research -- Periodicals; 616.9041
• DOI: 10.2217/fmb.15.76
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-0913

Abstract

Despite enormous progress, tuberculosis (TB) is still a major global health problem. Poor patients' adherence to the current treatment leads to the emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) strains. While increased numbers of MDR-TB cases can be ascribed to difficulties in treating TB–HIV coinfected patients, many studies demonstrated that the emergence of drug-resistant TB is clearly linked to misdiagnosis and mismanagement of drug-susceptible TB. Therefore, rapid detection and proper treatment are needed globally to both cure TB patients and prevent wide spreading of the disease. This paper provides a survey of the major strategies that have been explored for overcoming drug resistance in TB.