Prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing strains in Punjab Pakistan

Beijing strains possess unique properties such as, multi-drug resistance, evasion of BCG vaccination and disseminating at a greater rate than nonBeijing strains. Various methods exist for the detection of Beijing strains such as, RFLP or spoligotyping; however, these methods require established cultures and DNA isolated in High concentration. Relatively newer methods such as, MIRU VNTR, are more expensive and require complex software for analysis. Warren and his coworkers in 2004 illustrated a simple, one step single tube multiplex PCR assay which proved to be a cost effective and easier method with eliminating the need for culturing. In our study, we collected 56 cultures from various districts of Punjab at Institute of Public Health, Lahore and analyzed them by method illustrated by Warren and coworkers, using primers to identify the Beijing strains by the presence of a characteristic deletion which occurs in all such strains. From our study, we found the prevalence of Beijing strains in Punjab is 8.9% of the TB infections.