[Monitoring of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis in The Republic of Mariy El].

Drug resistance (DR) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) has been monitored in the Republic of Mariy El. It has been established that there is a considerable prevalence of drug-resistance strains even among new cases. There is a gradual rise in the level of MBT DR, including multiple DR (MDR). In 2000 and 2006, the rates of primary MBT DR were 26.7 and 31.5% (including those of MDR were 10.2 and 13%), respectively. The proportion of strains resistant to 4 major antituberculous drugs (I, R, S, E) of the number of DR cultures increased from 19% in 2003 to 35% in 2005, which suggests the situation of high strain with the prevalence of DR tuberculosis in the Republic of Mariy El.