[Prevalence of primary drug resistance in M. tuberculosis in four administrative areas of the North-Western Federal District of the Russian Federation].

The paper describes the results of radiometric BACTEC assay of drug susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, isolated from 81 new cases of tuberculosis, to first- and second-line antituberculosis drugs in four administrative areas of the North-Western Federal District of the Russian Federation. The results of determination of drug susceptibility to the antituberculosis drugs by the absolute concentration method and the BACTEC method are also compared. Primary drug resistance has been revealed in 58.0%; multidrug resistance in 34.6%. Comparison of the results of determination of drug susceptibility by the methods revealed no significant discrepancy between both methods; however, the procedure for drug susceptibility to some drugs requires improvement.