Recent transmission of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a prison population in southern Brazil

• Main Authors: Ana Julia Reis, Simone Maria Martini de David, Luciana de Souza Nunes, Andreia Rosane de Moura Valim, Lia Gonçalves Possuelo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia
• Series: Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia
• Subjects: Tuberculosis; Prisons; Molecular epidemiology
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132016000400286&lng=en&tlng=en

ABSTRACT We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective study, characterized by classical and molecular epidemiology, involving M. tuberculosis isolates from a regional prison in southern Brazil. Between January of 2011 and August of 2014, 379 prisoners underwent sputum smear microscopy and culture; 53 (13.9%) were diagnosed with active tuberculosis. Of those, 8 (22.9%) presented with isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis. Strain genotyping was carried out by 15-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable-number tandem-repeat analysis; 68.6% of the patients were distributed into five clusters, and 87.5% of the resistant cases were in the same cluster. The frequency of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases and the rate of recent transmission were high. Our data suggest the need to implement an effective tuberculosis control program within the prison system.