Development of streptomycin resistant strains of tubercle bacilli in pulmonary tuberculosis; results of simultaneous sensitivity tests in liquid and solid media. Thorax 5:144–161

A series of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis has been treated with streptomycin under the auspices of the Medical Research Council. In some of the cases the antibiotic was given intermittently, a period of treatment alternating with a rest period. The results of this investigation will be published elsewhere. Sputa from a group of 18 of these patients treated at the Brompton Hospital, London, were investigated in greater detail in an attempt to obtain further information about the strains of tubercle bacilli excreted during the development of streptomycin resis-tance. The sputa were cultured directly on solid medium containing streptomycin in various concentrations and sensitivity tests in liquid medium were done at the same time. METHOD OF INVESTIGATION The patients were aged from 17 to 30 years, and suffered from acute progressive bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis of recent origin. The condition of the disease on admission is comparable to that in an earlier series of patients (Medical Research Council, 1948a). There were 3 men and 15 women