Standard short course chemotherapy is recommended by the World Health Organization to control tuberculosis worldwide. However, in settings with high drug resistance, first line standard regimens are linked with high treatment failure. We evaluated treatment outcomes after standardized chemotherapy with the WHO recommended category II retreatment regimen in a prison with a high prevalence of drug resistant tuberculosis (TB). A cohort of 233 culture positive TB patients was followed through smear microscopy, culture, drug susceptibility testing and DNA fingerprinting at baseline, after 3 months and at the end of treatment. Overall 172 patients (74%) became culture negative, while 43 (18%) remained positive at the end of treatment. Among those 43 cases, 58% of failures were determined to be due to treatment with an inadequate drug regimen and 42% to either an initial mixed infection or re-infection while under treatment. Overall, drug resistance amplification during treatment occurred in 3.4% of the patient cohort. This study demonstrates that treatment failure is linked to initial drug resistance, that amplification of drug resistance occurs, and that mixed infection and re-infection during standard treatment contribute to treatment failure in confined settings with high prevalence of drug resistance.

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The aim of this study was to analyze inflammation features and possible causes of asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). Methods. Clinical examination was performed for all patients included in the study. Blood levels of alpha-1-antitripsin (AAT), immunoglobulin (Ig) G and E antibodies against four bacterial antigens (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria perflava, and Staphylococcus aureus), and lung function were measured in all the patients. Results. The study involved 175 patients including 78 patients with bronchial asthma, 39 patients with ACOS, 38 patients with COPD, and 20 healthy individuals. AAT blood level was reversely related to lung function and to increased IgG-antibody levels against bacterial antigens. Conclusion. Due to this fact, the authors suppose that the ACOS should be considered as an independent nosology distinct from asthma and COPD, and related to microbial inflammation and AAT level.

175 patients were examined: 78 patients with bronchial asthma (BA), 39 with Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS), 38 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 20 healthy individuals. A general clinical and laboratory examination was conducted, α1-antitrypsin (AAT), IgG and IgA to four bacterial antigens were determined, and pulmonary function test was studied. The clinical and spirometry data (characterizing the ACOS) were received. Negative association of AAT with respiratory function parameters in patients with ACOS, high levels of IgG antibodies to bacterial antigens and the lack of these connections in patients with BA and COPD allows us to consider ACOS to be independent nosological form related with microbial inflammation and marked by the AAT.

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