The prevalence and trends of drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis at the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries were reviewed. Drug resistance incidence of M.
tuberculosis showed marked geographic variation from one country to the other ranged from 0
to 18%. In Saudi Arabia, the pattern of resistance of M. tuberculosis also showed marked
regional variation. The variability in the resistance rates of tuberculosis is dependent on the
time and location of the study as well as on the contribution of non-Saudi patients to each study.
Multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis (MDR-TB) was defined by Centers for Diseases Control
and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Union
against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease as resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin with or
without resistance to other agents.