[The specific features of a pathogen in acutely progressive pulmonary tuberculosis]

Examination of 318 patients with different forms of acutely progressive pulmonary tuberculosis (APPT) revealed massive bacterial isolation in 181 patients of them. In one fourth of the patients, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) colonies grew during a month; the mean growth duration was 38.3 +/- 12.7 days, which was indicative of the viability of Mycobacteria and of their high virulence if they were isolated in large amounts. A hundred and thirty-three patients were found to be drug-resistant, which is one of the characteristics of present-day APPT. Such patients more frequently developed multidrug resistance. Sixty-three patients were ascertained to have secondary drug resistance, of them 41 patients were found to have drug resistance that progressed during APPT therapy.