Sputum culture plays an important role in monitoring treatment response in patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), and sputum culture conversion is a clinical tool used to predict therapeutic efficacy [1]. Monthly culture monitoring is essential for earlier detection of treatment failure in patients with MDR-TB. More sensitive signals of nonresponse would further avoid adverse ...

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance is a complex problem driven by numerous interconnected factors, many of which are linked to the use of antimicrobials [2]. According to CAMINERO [3], at a community level four main groups of potential factors associated with the selection of resistance and the generation of MDR-TB under epidemic conditions exist: 1) non-implementation of DOTS (Directly ...

The spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis increases its global health impact in humans. As there is transmission both to and from animals, the disease also effects a broad range animal species.

Objective: In view of the national key project for infectious diseases “ the retreatment research of tuberculosis”, we determined the in vitro anti-mycobacterial activity of four drugs in the treatment, pasiniazid (Pa), moxifloxacin (Mfx), Rifabutin (Rfb) and rifapentini (Rft) in combination to multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis. Method: Three-dimensio...

SETTING The cost of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment is a major barrier to treatment scale-up in South Africa. OBJECTIVE To estimate and compare the cost of treatment for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) in South Africa in different models of care in different settings. DESIGN We estimated the costs of different models of care with varying levels of hospitalisati...

Despite declining incidence in most high-income countries, tuberculosis shows no signs of disappearing in the near future. Although surveillance data from most Western European countries show relatively stable declines in the rate of tuberculosis over the past several decades, some have reported either an increasing rate or a decelerating pace of reduction in recent years. The burden of disease...