Drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from re-treatment cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in Ethiopia: susceptibility to first-line and alternative drugs.

Abstract

The WHO re-treatment regimen would theoretically be effective for the treatment of all non-MDR-TB patients in this study. A proposed 12-month re-treatment regimen for MDR-TB patients would include a fluoroquinolone in combination with streptomycin, pyrazinamide, isoniazid, ethambutol and clofazimine. There is an urgent need for more research to define safe and inexpensive treatment regimens for MDR-TB patients in low-income countries.