Background. India has one of the highest tuberculosis (TB) burdens globally. However, few studies have focused on TB in young children, a vulnerable population, where lack of early diagnosis results in poor outcomes. Methods. Young children (≤5 years) with suspected TB were prospectively enrolled at a tertiary hospital in Pune, India. Detailed clinical evaluation, HIV testing, mycobacterial cultures, and drug susceptibility testing were performed. Results. 223 children with suspected TB were enrolled. The median age was 31 months, 46% were female, 86% had received BCG, 57% were malnourished, and 10% were HIV positive. 12% had TB disease (definite or probable), 35% did not have TB, while TB could not be ruled out in 53%. Extrapulmonary disease was noted in 46%, which was predominantly meningeal. Tuberculin skin test (TST) was positive in 20% of children with TB. Four of 7 (57%) children with culture-confirmed TB harbored drug-resistant (DR) strains of whom 2 (50%) were multi-DR (MDR). In adjusted analyses, HIV infection, positive TST, and exposure to household smoke were found to be significantly associated with children with TB (P ≤ 0.04). Mortality (at 1 year) was 3 of 26 (12%) and 1 of 79 (1%), respectively, in children with TB and those without TB (P < 0.05). Conclusions. Diagnosis of TB is challenging in young children, with high rates of extra-pulmonary and meningeal disease. While the data on DR-TB are limited by the small sample size, they are however concerning, and additional studies are needed to more accurately define the prevalence of DR strains in this vulnerable population.

Total dystrophic onychomycosis was the most common clinical type and NDM were the predominant causative organisms.

Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease. Knowledge of the impact of DM on TB treatment outcomes is primarily based on retrospective studies. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of new pulmonary TB patients with and without DM (TB-DM and TB-only) in India. The association of DM with a composite unfavorable TB treatment outcome (failure, recurrence, mortality) over 18 months was determined and the effect of DM on all-cause mortality and early mortality (death during TB treatment) was assessed. Results Of 799 participants, 574(72%) had TB-only and 225(28%) had TB-DM. The proportion of patients with DM who experienced the composite outcome was 20% as compared to 21% for TB only participants (adjusted hazard ratio 1.13, 95% CI 0.75–1.70). Mortality was higher in participants with DM (10% vs. 7%), and early mortality was substantially higher among patients with DM (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 4.36; 95% CI:1·62–11.76). Conclusion DM was associated with early mortality in this prospective cohort study, but overall unfavorable outcomes were similar to participants without DM. Interventions to reduce mortality during TB treatment among people with TB-DM are needed.

SUMMARY SETTING: Pune, India. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence and risk factors of pre-diabetes mellitus (DM) and DM, and its associations with the clinical presentation of tuberculosis (TB). DESIGN: Screening for DM was conducted among adults (age ⩾ 18 years) with confirmed TB between December 2013 and January 2017. We used multinomial regression to evaluate the risk factors for pre-DM (glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c] ⩾ 5.7–6.5% or fasting glucose 100–125 mg/dl) and DM (HbA1c ⩾ 6.5% or fasting glucose ⩾ 126 mg/dl or random blood glucose > 200 mg/dl or self-reported DM history/treatment) and the association of dysglycemia with the severity of TB disease. RESULTS: Among 1793 participants screened, 890 (50%) had microbiologically confirmed TB. Of these, 33% had pre-DM and 18% had DM; 41% were newly diagnosed. The median HbA1c level among newly diagnosed DM was 7.0% vs. 10.3% among known DM (P < 0.001). DM (adjusted OR [aOR] 4.94, 95%CI 2.33–10.48) and each per cent increase in HbA1c (aOR 1.42, 95%CI 1.01–2.01) was associated with >1+smear grade or ⩽9 days to TB detection. CONCLUSION: Over half of newly diagnosed TB patients had DM or pre-DM. DM and increasing dysglycemia was associated with higher bacterial burden at TB diagnosis, potentially indicating a higher risk of TB transmission to close contacts.

Background:Drug resistance is a major problem in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). An estimate of drug resistance is extremely important in the epidemiology and control of TB. However, an assessment of the magnitude of drug resistance in TB is not very well described globally and data remains scantier for India. In view of this, we reviewed our data over last five years.Materials and Methods:Six hundred and seventy-three Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were subjected to drug susceptibility against primary anti-tuberculosis drugs by economic variant proportion method. All isolates resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin were taken as multi-drug resistant (MDR).Results:Out of the 673 strains tested, 95 (14.11%) showed monoresistance, 365 (54.23%) strains were found to be resistant to more than one drug. A total of 118 (17.53%) strains were found to be resistant to all the four drugs tested. MDR was seen with 320 (47.54%) isolates. This study observed maximum resistance with rifampicin (74.4%) followed by streptomycin (70.0%), isoniazid (53.2%), and ethambutol (21.7%).Conclusion:While this information may not reflect true prevalence of drug resistance in the region, this may help in further planning long term surveillance studies to know the trend of drug resistance in this area.