Rifampin-Resistant Tuberculosis in a Patient Receiving Rifabutin Prophylaxis

Abstract
Drug-resistant tuberculosis has become a major public health problem in the United States.1,2 In 1979 less than 1 percent of tuberculosis isolates from untreated patients in New York City were resistant to rifampin, as compared with 9 percent in 1991.3 Rifampin-resistant tuberculosis is a serious threat because responses to therapy are more difficult to achieve and require longer courses of treatment.4-8