Is MDR-TB Less Transmissible?

Risk for developing active tuberculosis was approximately 50% lower among household contacts of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis than among household contacts of those with drug-susceptible disease.

Recent reports have indicated that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is on the rise worldwide. Paradoxically, results from animal studies have shown that multidrug resistance may come at the expense of mycobacterial “fitness” (i.e., the ability to survive, replicate, and be transmitted). A field study conducted between September 2010 and September 2013 in Lima, Peru, where TB prevalence is high, provides some real-life data on this issue.

To estimate the fitness of MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis (defined as resistant to at least rifampicin and isoniazid) relative to that of drug-susceptible (DS) bacilli, the researchers compared secondary-case incidence between households with MDR-TB index-patients and those with DS-TB index-patients…

Reviewing Author

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Is MDR-TB Less Transmissible?

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Reviewing Author