Evaluation of Xpert MTB/RIF Assay, MTB Culture and Line Probe Assay for the Detection of MDR Tuberculosis in AFB Smear Negative Specimens.

The global burden of tuberculosis (TB), particularly with multidrug resistance (MDR), is escalating and has become a major health challenge. It is well known that acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-negative TB patients are the major source of spreading TB to healthy individuals when left untreated. Early diagnosis of TB and rapid detection of drug resistance are important for the proper management of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB).

Diagnostic performance of GeneXpert MTB/RIF in detecting MTB in smear-negative presumptive TB patients.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Control of TB is lingering by the lack of diagnostic tests that are simple, rapid, yet accurate. Thus, smear-negative pulmonary TB often misses the diagnosis.

Comparative genomic analyses of multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Nepal and other geographical locations.

Nepal exhibits a tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate that is comparable to neighbouring high TB incidence countries. In addition, it records >500 cases of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB each year. The objective of this study was to perform whole-genome bioinformatic analysis on MDR-TB isolates from Nepal (n = 19) to identify the specific mutations underlying their phenotypic resistance.

Diagnosis of tuberculosis from smear-negative presumptive TB cases using Xpert MTB/Rif assay: a cross-sectional study from Nepal.

Background: In most developing countries, smear-negative pulmonary TB (SNPT) often gets missed from the diagnosis of consideration, though it accounts 30-65% of total PTB cases, due to deficient or inaccessible molecular diagnostic modalities.

Methods: The cross-sectional study enrolled 360 patients with clinical-radiological suspicion of SNPT in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH). The patient selection was done as per the algorithm of Nepal's National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) for Xpert MTB/RIF testing.

Evaluation of Saliva as a Potential Alternative Sampling Matrix for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Levofloxacin in Patients with Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis.

Saliva may be a useful alternative matrix for monitoring levofloxacin concentrations in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the correlation between plasma and salivary levofloxacin (Lfx) concentrations in MDR-TB patients and (ii) to gauge the possibility of using saliva as an alternative sampling matrix for therapeutic drug monitoring of Lfx in areas where TB is endemic. This was a prospective pharmacokinetic study that enrolled MDR-TB patients receiving levofloxacin (750- to 1,000-mg once-daily dosing) under standardized treatment regimen in Nepal.

Antimicrobial susceptibilities of enteric bacterial pathogens isolated in Kathmandu, Nepal, during 2002-2004.

Introduction: The prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the bacterial enteropathogens Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella species and Shigella species were investigated.

Methodology: A total of 877 stool samples were received for culture at the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL), Kathmandu, Nepal, during January 2002 to December 2004, from diarrhoea patients attending Shukraraj Tropical Infectious Hospital and referral outpatients. All samples collected were processed for isolation and antibiotic susceptibility testing of Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella spp.