Genotypic Analysis of Genes Associated with Independent Resistance and Cross-Resistance to Isoniazid and Ethionamide in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates.

Ethionamide (ETH) is an antibiotic used for the treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) (MDR-TB), and its use may be limited with the emergence of resistance in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population. ETH resistance in M. tuberculosis is phenomenon independent or cross related when accompanied with isoniazid (INH) resistance.

Population structure among mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Colombia.

Background: Phylogeographic composition of M. tuberculosis populations reveals associations between lineages and human populations that might have implications for the development of strategies to control the disease. In Latin America, lineage 4 or the Euro-American, is predominant with considerable variations among and within countries.

[Clinical, epidemiological and microbiological characteristics of a cohort of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Cali, Colombia].

Introduction: The World Health Organization recommended strategy for global tuberculosis control is a short-course, clinically administered treatment, This approach has approximately 70% coverage in Colombia.

Objective: The clinical, epidemiological and microbiological characteristics along with drug therapy outcomes were described in newly diagnosed, pulmonary tuberculosis patients.

Materials And Methods: This was a descriptive study, conducted as part of a multicenter clinical trial of tuberculosis treatment.

[Seroprevalence of Leptospira infection in habitants of peripheral neighborhoods in Cali, Colombia].

Introduction: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with varying modes of transmission and clinical expression that affects humans inhabiting urban and rural areas worldwide. In Colombia, little is known regarding leptospirosis in urban settings.

Objectives: To establish the seroprevalence of leptospiral infection in humans, to assess the serological reactivity and to identify factors associated with seropositivity.

[Exposure to Leptospira in stray dogs in the city of Cali].

In Colombia, little information is available concerning the epidemiology of leptospirosis in urban environments. Furthermore, the role of dogs in the transmission cycle of leptospirosis in the urban setting is unclear. To explore the potential role of canines in the transmission of leptospirosis in Cali, a serological study was conducted with 197 serum samples collected from stray dogs during 2001 and 2003.

Photographic and luminometric detection of luciferase reporter phages for drug susceptibility testing of clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.

Luciferase reporter phages (LRPs) have proven to be efficient tools for drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Luminometric detection of LRP activity offers higher sensitivity and quantitative results, while a Polaroid film detection method offers a "low-tech" inexpensive alternative that is called the Bronx box. In this work we evaluated, improved, and compared the performance of the luminometer and the Bronx box formats for drug susceptibility testing with LRPs by using 51 clinical isolates of M.