Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children from 2003 to 2005: a brief report.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has rarely been reported from children in India. Their response to therapy is also not known. We present four HIV-negative children with MDR-TB (3 children with extra-pulmonary TB and 1 child with pulmonary TB) who presented in 2003-2005. All the four children were already on antituberculous therapy (ATT) for 3-9 months prior to being detected as MDR-TB. These patients were started on second-line ATT for 18 months. In three patients, there was complete resolution, and one patient with severe bilateral pulmonary TB had the disease localized to one lung after 18 months of therapy.