Guidelines for surveillance of drug resistance in tuberculosis

This fifth edition of the Guidelines for surveillance of drug resistance in tuberculosis is an updated version of earlier editions published in 1994 (1), 1997 (2), 2003 (3) and 2009 (4). The document takes into account recent advancements in laboratory diagnostics and subsequent WHO guidance, including Molecular line probe assays for rapid screening of patients at risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (5), Xpert MTB/RIF assay for the diagnosis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB in adults and children (6) and Xpert MTB/RIF implementation manual (7). These updated guidelines also incorporate experience gained from 20 years of the Global Project on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance (hereafter referred to as the Global Project), a project initiated by WHO and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). Acknowledgements This updated edition was written by Anna Dean and Matteo Zignol. Development of this document was guided by the following panel of external experts and staff of the World Health Organization (WHO): External experts: Daniela Cirillo (San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy), Frank Cobelens (KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands), Ted Cohen (Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, United States), Charlotte Colvin (United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington DC, United States), Julia Ershova (Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, Atlanta, United States), Aleksandr Golubkov (USAID, Washington DC, United States), Arax Hovhannesyan (World Vision Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia), Maeve Lalor (Public Health England, London, United Kingdom), Fulvia Mecatti (University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy), Patrick Moonan (Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, Atlanta, United States), Amy Pietak (USAID, Washington DC, United States), Michael Selgelid (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Susan van den Hof (KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands), Marieke van der Werf (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden), Armand Van Deun (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium) and Norio Yamada (Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Tokyo, Japan)