Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to the first line anti tubercular drugs--a twenty year review.

Tuberculosis and more so the multi drug resistant variety has been thrust into the forefront as a serious and life threatening illness in recent years. The advent of AIDS contributes to this substantially, especially in the developed world where it had become practically non- existent. We reviewed our data over the past 20 years with a view to determine when drug resistance began to manifest in the strains.