BACKGROUND Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is resistant to both rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH). Whereas many TB diagnostics detect RIF-resistance, few detect INH-monoresistance, which is common and may increase risk of acquired MDR-TB. Whether inclusion of INH-resistance in a first-line rapid test for TB would have an important impact on MDR-TB rates remains uncertain. METHODS...

V. Leimane. What is the problem and what is known about it so far? Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually involves the lungs, although it can also involve other parts of the body. When a person inhales tuberculosis bacteria, an initial infection develops that does not cause disease. The bacteria can lie dormant in the body after this initial infection but cause disease years later, ...

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis have emerged as important infections in South Africa among patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In the face of this new epidemic, South Africa must rededicate itself to the task of tuberculosis control and treatment with a rapid, multifaceted approach. Priorities include expansion of second-line t...

Colombia is one of the 105 countries that has reported at least one case of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). The Mycobacterium tuberculosis Haarlem genotype is ubiquitous worldwide. Here, we report the high-quality draft genome sequence of a Colombian Haarlem XDR-TB clinical isolate composed of 4,329,127 bp with 4,386 genes.

The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) has raised public health concern about global control of TB. To estimate the transmission dynamics of MDR and XDR TB, we conducted a DNA fingerprinting analysis of 55 MDR/XDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from TB patients throughout Japan in 2002. Twenty-one (38%) of the st...

Sputum cultures are an important tool in monitoring the response to tuberculosis treatment, especially in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. There has, however, been little study of the effect of treatment regimen composition on culture conversion. Well-designed clinical trials of new anti-tuberculosis drugs require this information to establish optimized background regimens for comparison. We c...

BACKGROUND Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) is a threat to global tuberculosis control. A significant fitness cost has been associated with DR strains from specific lineages. Evaluation of the influence of the competing drug susceptible strains on fitness of drug resistant strains may have an important bearing on understanding the spread of MDR TB. The aim of this study was to evaluat...

The global extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) response plan calls for implementation of rapid tests to screen patients at risk of drug-resistant TB. Currently, two line probe assays exist, the INNO-LiPA(R)Rif.TB assay (Innogenetics, Ghent, Belgium) and the GenoType MTBDR assay (Hain LifeScience GmbH, Nehren, Germany). While LiPA studies have been reviewed, the accuracy of GenoType ass...

Vietnam is ranked 13th among the WHO list of 22 high-burden countries, based upon estimated total number of tuberculosis cases. Despite having a model national tuberculosis program, consistently achieving and exceeding WHO targets for detection and cure, drug-resistant and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cases continue to rise. Rapid multidrug-resistant tests applicable in this setting, couple...

Drug-resistant tuberculosis is caused by transmission of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and by acquisition of resistance through inadequate treatment. We investigated the clinical and molecular features of the disease in 2 families after drug-resistant tuberculosis was identified in 2 children. The findings demonstrate the potential for resistance to be transmitted and amplifie...