Primary drug resistance in newly diagnosed smear positive tuberculosis patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: Drug resistance monitoring is an important aspect of tuberculosis (TB) control.

Objective: To determine the sensitivity of mycobacterial isolates from newly diagnosed pulmonary TB patients to first line anti-TB drugs in Addis Ababa.

Methods: A survey on primary anti-tuberculosis drug resistance was conducted on smear positive pulmonary TB patients visiting 19 health centers and 3 hospitals in Addis Ababa from September 2004 to December 2005.