Tuberculosis in Australia: bacteriologically confirmed cases and drug resistance, 2010. A report of the Australian Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory Network.

Tuberculosis in Australia: bacteriologically confirmed cases and drug resistance, 2010. A report of the Australian Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory Network. Commun Dis Intell Q Rep. 2013 Mar;37(1):E40-6 Authors: Lumb R, Bastian I, Carter R, Jelfs P, Keehner T, Sievers A Abstract The Australian Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory Network collects and analyses laboratory data on new cases of disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. In 2010, a total of 1,051 cases were identified by bacteriology; an annual reporting rate of 4.7 cases per 100,000 population. Twelve children aged less than 10 years had bacteriologically-confirmed tuberculosis. Results of in vitro drug susceptibility testing were available for 1,050 isolates for isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF), ethambutol (EMB), and pyrazinamide (PYZ). A total of 126 (12%) isolates of M. tuberculosis were resistant to at least one of these anti-tuberculosis agents. Resistance to at least INH and RIF (defined as multi-drug resistance, MDR) was detected in 37 (3.5%) isolates, including three Australians with extensive travel in high burden TB countries; 33 were from the respiratory tract (sputum n=28, bronchoscopy n=5). Nineteen (65.5%) of the MDR-TB-positive sputum specimens were smear-positive, as were single samples from bronchoscopy and urine. Sixteen patients with MDR-TB were from the Torres Strait Protected Zone. If these Papa New Guinea nationals are excluded from ...
Source: Communicable Diseases Intelligence Quarterly Report - Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: Commun Dis Intell Q Rep Source Type: research