Public Library of Science, PLoS ONE, 12(5), p. e15735, 2010
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015735
Full text: Download
Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) have emerged in high-HIV-prevalence settings, which generally lack laboratory infrastructure for diagnosing TB drug resistance. Even where available, inherent delays with current drug-susceptibility testing (DST) methods result in clinical deterioration and ongoing transmission of MDR and XDR-TB. Identifying clinical predictors of drug resistance may aid in risk stratification for earlier treatment and infection control.