Tuberculosis organisms resistant to drugs; the incidence and the rate of relapse among patients.

In a study carried out under the sponsorship of the California Tuberculosis and Health Association, 15 institutions for tuberculous patients were sent a questionnaire to obtain information regarding drug resistance studies on positive sputums of new patients and data on the readmission rate to tuberculosis hospitals. The results of these studies showed that the problem of drug resistant tubercle bacilli is sizable and important. In this study it was larger than has been reported by other investigators. The average readmission rate for the tuberculosis institutions covered in this study was 19.2 per cent-but many of the patients left the hospitals against medical advice.