MDR/XDR tuberculosis in South Africa

Multidrug-resistant(MDR) tuberculosois (TB), defined as TB caused by strains resistant to both isoniazid and rifampicin,has for many years been a well recognised but poorly defined problem in South Africa and included an outbreak involving six patients infected with an MDR strain resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, ethambuttol and pyrazinamide, as well as ofloxacin and three other second-line drugs at Sizwe Hospital for Tropical Diseases as far back as 1997.