Pilot study on multidrug resistant tuberculosis in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) has lately emerged and it represents a serious public health problem. We set out to determine drug resistance among TB patients. METHODS: Using automated BACTEC cultures, multidrug resistant-tuberculosis (MDR-TB) was investigated in 117 diagnosed cases in Abuja, Nigeria. RESULTS: Ten (31%) of 32 culture-positive patients were resistant to at least one and four (13%) to all of the four drugs tested. No association between drug resistance and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was found. CONCLUSIONS: MDR-TB is present in Nigeria and larger studies are urgently required. TB clinical management and control efforts should be improved.