Abstract
Resistance to anti-tuberculosis medicines is a major public health threat in most countries of the former Soviet Union. As no representative and quality-assured information on the magnitude of this problem existed in Belarus, a survey was conducted in the capital city of Minsk.
Between November 2009 and December 2010, 156 and 68 consecutively diagnosed new and previously treated culture-positive tuberculosis patients residing in Minsk were enrolled in the survey. Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were obtained from each patient and tested for susceptibility to first- and second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs.
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was found in 35.3% (95%CI: 27.7–42.8) of new patients and 76.5% (95%CI: 66.1–86.8) of those previously treated. Overall nearly one in two patients enrolled had multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis was found in 15 of the 107 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients (14.0%; 95%CI: 7.3–20.7). Patients under 35 years old have shown a 2 times higher odds of MDR-TB than those 35 and older.
The findings of this survey in Minsk city are alarming and represent the highest proportions of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis ever recorded in the world. This study greatly contributes to the understanding of the burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis in urban areas of Belarus.
- ERS
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