Profile of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Western Maharashtra

Abstract

Context:Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) strains have evolved mainly due to incomplete or improper treatment of TB patients and are one of the hurdles in controlling TB problem. It is better to understand the magnitude and comorbidities associated with drug-resistant TB.Aim and Objectives:(1) To study some of the sociodemographic profile and history of TB treatment of drug-resistant TB cases. (2) To study their drug-resistance pattern and their comorbidity profile.Settings and Design:It was a record-based study descriptive, cross-sectional study of drug-resistant TB cases that were referred to State TB Training and Demonstration Centre (STDC).Materials and Methods:The data were collected by means of use of TB patient treatment register of those tested at STDC during first two quarters of the year 2012 (from January to June 2012). Sputum samples of all the cases were subjected to concentrated microscopy, and all positive samples were tested by GeneXpert and Line Probe Assay for drug susceptibility testing (DST) for isoniazid and rifampicin.Statistical Analysis:The findings were analyzed with Epi info7, using the mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test.Results:The mean age of the patients was 35.65 ± 13.59 years, majority 71.87% were males. The majority of patients 72.91% had the previous history of TB. A majority 68.75% of the patients had acquired drug resistance, and 73.95% of cases were suffering from multidrug-resistant TB. A total of 28.13% patients had self-reported comorbidity. A majority 62.5% had failure as the treatment outcome for the current episode of TB and mortality was seen in 12.5% cases.Conclusions:Majority had failure as a treatment outcome due to advanced disease status or late diagnosis. Rapid diagnosis and DST for first- and second-line drugs will greatly improve the clinical outcome.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis: Response to More et al. (2017)

“…describing the profile of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) patients referred to the State TB Training and Demonstration Center, Maharashtra (STDC). [ 1 ] The study reported that most DR-TB were male and below 35 years of age which highlights the enormous threat posed by the increasing burden of DR-TB on India's vast demographic dividend. I have the following queries and request for clarifications on a few key observations from the study.…”