The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
-
Uzbekistan has had 100% DOTS coverage since 2005; however, the treatment success rate has remained at around 80% for the last 4 years. Surveys from the capital city of Tashkent and from western Uzbekistan have shown high levels of primary multidrug resistance. ⋯ Prescriptions of anti-tuberculosis drugs for new TB patients are adequate; however, the practice of prescribing additional non-TB drugs needs to be reconsidered.
-
Int. J. Tuberc. Lung Dis. · Nov 2009
Case ReportsFirst documentation of isoniazid reversion in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are increasing worldwide and pose a major threat to global health. However, it remains unsettled whether drug-resistant mutants are fixed in the bacterial population or if they would revert in the absence of drug pressure. ⋯ This study confirms that, in the absence of INH pressure, some INH-resistant mutants will revert to a drug-susceptible phenotype. This finding may have broader implications for INH-resistant strains and for the clinically useful lifespan of INH.
-
Int. J. Tuberc. Lung Dis. · Nov 2009
Comparative StudyQuantiFERON-TB Gold in the identification of latent tuberculosis infection in rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study.
To compare the performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) with that of the tuberculin skin test (TST) in detecting latent tuberculosis (LTBI) among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ The clinical significance of negative QFT-G in TST-positive patients with low TB risk remains to be assessed. The high rate of indeterminate results questions the clinical utility of QFT-G in the diagnosis of LTBI in RA patients.