High levels of resistance to second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs among prisoners with pulmonary tuberculosis in Georgia
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of resistance to second-line drugs among prisoners with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). DESIGN: Retrospective evaluation of resistance to second-line drugs in tuberculosis (TB) patients treated from 2001 to 2003.
RESULTS: The overall observed prevalence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) was 14.4% (39/270). The lowest resistance was found for ofloxacin (OFX), which was 2.2% (6/270) overall and 5.1% (2/39) among MDR patients. Isolates from four non-MDR patients who had never received anti-tuberculosis treatment were found to be resistant to OFX. Resistance to kanamycin and capreomycin occurred simultaneously only among MDR patients and was observed in 17/39 cases (43.6%). High rates of resistance to ≥2 second-line drugs (18/39, 46.2%) and ≥3 second-line drugs (10/39, 25.6%) were observed among all MDR-TB patients, reaching respectively 59.3% and 29.6% among previously treated MDR-TB cases. Only one patient was found to be resistant to four second-line drugs. No extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) according to the latest definition was detected.
CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal a serious threat to the TB control efforts in the study population.
Keywords: MDR-TB; TB in prisons; XDR-TB
Document Type: Regular Paper
Affiliations: 1: Mycobacteriology Unit, Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; and International Committee of the Red Cross, Tbilisi, Georgia 2: Mycobacteriology Unit, Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium 3: Mycobacteriology Unit, Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; and Microbiology Unit, Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Zambia
Publication date: 01 May 2008
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