BACKGROUND Drug resistant (DR) and multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) is increasing worldwide. In some parts of the world 10% or more of new TB cases are MDR. The Beijing genotype is a distinct genetic lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is distributed worldwide, and has caused large outbreaks of MDR-TB. It has been proposed that certain lineages of M. tuberculosis, such as t...

BACKGROUND Studies have shown that the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype is an emerging pathogen that is frequently associated with drug resistance. This suggests that drug resistant Beijing strains have a relatively high transmission fitness compared to other drug-resistant strains. METHODS AND FINDINGS We studied the relative transmission fitness of the Beijing genotype in relatio...

INTRODUCTION Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing strains are frequently associated with tuberculosis outbreaks and drug resistance. However, contradictory evidence and limited study generalizability make it difficult to foresee if the emergence of Beijing strains in high-income immigrant-receiving countries poses an increased public health threat. The purpose of this study was to determine if Be...

It is unclear to what extent the host-responses elicited by Beijing versus non-Beijing strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) contribute to the predominance of modern Beijing strains in Taiwan and some other Asian countries. The purpose of this study was to compare the expression profiles of virulence-related genes in human monocyte-derived macrophages infected in vitro with Beijing (ancie...

background: beijing family of mycobacterium tuberculosis (m. tuberculosis) is widespread in asia and has been involved in outbreaks of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in various parts of the world.  the aim of the current study was to evaluate the frequency of beijing family of m. tuberculosis in patients with tuberculosis in mashhad, iran. materials and methods: totally, 72 specimens of m. tu...

To the Editor: Molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in several countries in recent years has shown that a group of strains known as " Beijing " is widespread around the world (1). The Beijing group of M. tuberculosis has been associated with drug resistance; one multidrug-resistant strain, designated " W, " was found in New York City in the early 1990s and caused larg...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious problem in China. While there have been some studies on the nationwide genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), there has been little detailed research in Beijing, the capital of China, which has a huge population. Here, M. tuberculosis clinical strains collected in Beijing during 2009 were genotyped by classical methods. METHODOLOG...

The Beijing genotype is a lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is distributed worldwide and responsible for large epidemics, associated with multidrug-resistance. However, its distribution in Africa is less understood due to the lack of data. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and possible transmission of Beijing strains in Mozambique by a multivariate analysis of genotypic, geogra...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of Beijing genotype strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS We analyzed the available data on a total of 1505 strains isolated during 2002-2005. RESULTS Spoligotyping results revealed that Beijing family isolates represented 4.5% of all the isolates. Existence of Beijing clade is alarming as this family is known t...

The wide geographic distribution of one clade of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the Beijing genotype family, and its genetic homogeneity, suggests that strains belonging to this grouping might have a selective advantage over other M tuberculosis strains. This hypothesis was addressed by reviewing molecular-epidemiological, experimental, and clinical studies. Beijing strains represent about 50% of ...