The New England journal of medicine
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Resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were recovered from cultures of gastric washings of children who had received no prior drug therapy and in whom demonstrable tuberculous disease was present. The incidence of primary strains resistant to streptomycin and PAS was of a low order (3 per cent) and comparable to that reported in adults. Combined-drug resistance was found in only 2 out of 101 strains. ⋯ Another factor contributing to the higher incidence of resistant infection in the present group may be that the patients in the present study were drawn from a limited geographic area and one of high risk for tuberculosis. Since the incidence of primary drug-resistant disease represents, in a measure, the level of tuberculosis control in a given community, continuing studies are necessary to determine its rate of increase or decrease. Such studies are now in progress.