Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) refers to any bacteriologically-confirmed or clinically-diagnosed case of TB that involves the lung parenchyma or the tracheobronchial tree. A reliable preparation containing rifampicin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide in combination is available, as is a combination tablet of all four of these first line drugs. Hence; the present study was conducted for assessing sensitivity pattern of isoniazid and rifampicin in tuberculosis patients. Materials & methods: Patients with potential symptoms suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis and history of treatment with antituberculosis drugs reported to Chest and T.B department were enrolled. Two Sputum samples from each patient were collected in sterile containers and immediately sent for AFB smear microscopy. All sputum smear positive cases with previous history of treatment with first line antituberculosis drugs were instructed to collect sputum sample in a sterile, leak proof falcon tube. Results: A total of 100 patients of pulmonary tuberculosis were analyzed. Mean age of the patients of the present study was 38.47 years. Isoniazid (H): Sensitive, Rifampicin (R): Sensitive was found to be present in 50 percent of the patients, while R: Sensitive, H: Resistant was found to be present in 28 percent of the patients. H: Sensitive, R: Resistant was found to be present in 6 percent of the patients while H: Sensitive, R: Sensitive was found to be present in 16 percent of the patients. Conclusion: Line probe assay is a rapid and accurate tool for identification of drug resistance in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Our findings carry significant importance because there have been scarce data on the prevalence of MDRTB among pulmonary TB patients from the recent past.