Objective  To understand the prevalence of drug resistance in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province, and provide reliable references for the prevention and control of TB.

  Methods  Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from 575 TB cases collected by Jiamusi Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory from 2017 to 2020 were included in the study. Proportion method was used for the drug susceptibility test of the strains to isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, streptomycin, ofloxacin and kanamycin.

  Results  The overall drug resistance rate was 35.29% (198/561). The drug resistance rate of the strains from the previously untreated patients was 32.35% (143/442), and the drug resistance rate of the strains from the retreated patients was 46.22% (55/119). There was significant difference between the two groups in drug resistance rate ( χ²=7.893, P=0.005). The overall multi-drug resistance rate was 10.16% (57/561). The multi-drug resistance rate of the strains from the previously untreated patients was 7.92% (35/442), and the multi-drug resistance rate of the strains from the retreated patients was 18.49% (22/119). There was significant difference between the two groups in multi-drug resistance rate ( χ²=11.473, P=0.01).The drug resistance rates of the M. tuberculosis strains to 6 anti TB drugs were 22.82% (128/561) to streptomycin , 19.25% (108/561) to isoniazid, 15.69% (88/561) to rifampicin , 6.77% (38/561) to ofloxacin, 6.6% (37/561) to ethambutol and 2.14% (12/561) to kanamycin.

  Conclusion  The drug resistance in pulmonary TB patients in Jiamusi was relatively serious, and the proportion of rifampicin resistant TB patients was relatively high. It is suggested that early detection and standardized treatment of TB patients with drug resistance should be strengthened to control the spread of drug resistant TB.