CLASSIFICATION OF DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS IS MISLEADING
The traditional clinical classification of types of drug-resistant tuberculosis may be misleading, and could lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant disease, according to a study in this week's issue of The Lancet. Traditionally, patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis are classified as having acquired drug-resistant disease (isolation of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a patient who has been treated for tuberculosis for 1 month or longer) or primary drug-resistant disease (isolation of a drug-resistant strain from a patient without a history of previous treatment, implying transmission of a drug-resistant strain) on the basis of history