Genetic studies of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), including those of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, have been reported in several populations. Some studies also have reported these genes to have a stronger role in severe tuberculosis. We investigated HLA class I and II alleles and haplotypes to ascertain their role in susceptibility and resistance to new and recurrent PTB in 257 PTB patients (216 new and 41 recurrent PTB patients) and 236 healthy controls in Western Javanese (Indonesia). HLA-B*4006 was associated with new PTB (p = 0.044, p(adj) = ns), whereas HLA-B*1802, HLA-B*4001 and HLA-DRB1*1101 were associated with recurrent PTB (p = 0.013, p(adj) = 0.016; p = 0.015, p(adj) = 0.028; and p = 0.008, p(adj) = 0.027 for new PTB vs recurrent PTB, respectively). Except for HLA-B*4006, those associations remained significant after adjustment for age and gender by logistic regression analysis, although they disappeared after correction for multiple testing. Haplotype HLA-B*1802-DRB1*1202 was associated with susceptibility to recurrent PTB (p = 0.014, odds ratio = 3.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.18-12.27). In contrast, HLA-DRB1*1202 in the absence of HLA-B*1802 showed a significant association with resistance to recurrent PTB (p = 8.2 x 10(-4), odds ratio = 0.32, 95% confidence interval = 0.16-0.64), suggesting that stronger susceptibility effect of HLA-B*1802 masked the protective effect of HLA-DRB1*1202. Further studies using larger number of patients with recurrent PTB will be needed to confirm our findings.