Abstract

Notifications of tuberculosis in England and Wales declined steadily until 1987, when about 5100 cases were reported.1 Since then numbers have begun to rise, reaching a provisional figure of about 5700 in 1994.2 The proportion of isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to one or more conventional first-line antituberculosis drugs has remained steady at about 10%.3 The incidence of tuberculosis is also rising in other countries, but the speed of increase and the proportion of infections that are drug resistant vary. In this article we discuss drug-resistant tuberculosis in the UK and consider its prevention, treatment and control.