International Journal of Mycobacteriology (Jan 2018)

The problem of resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis may be underestimated in Africa

  • Simeon I B. Cadmus,
  • Olutayo I Falodun,
  • Oba E Fagade,
  • Robert Murphy,
  • Babafemi Taiwo,
  • Dick Van Soolingen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmy.ijmy_29_18
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 2
pp. 148 – 151

Abstract

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Background: The true burden of tuberculosis (TB) and particularly multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB in Sub-Saharan Africa has remained underestimated. Methods: We investigated drug susceptibility profile and genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates collected from confirmed tuberculosis patients in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. Results: We confirmed that from 74 randomly selected Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates available for drug susceptibility testing in Ibadan, in 2011, 13.5% of them were MDR-TB. Conclusions: This figure is obviously above the national and World Health Organization figures.

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