Extrapulmonary tuberculosis: Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and host risk factors in a large urban setting in Brazil.

Background: Factors related to the development of extrapulmonary forms of tuberculosis (EPTB) are still poorly understood, particularly in high-endemic countries like Brazil. The objective of the paper is to determine host and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strain-related factors associated with the development of EPTB in Espírito Santo state, Brazil.

Methods And Findings: We conducted a retrospective laboratory-based surveillance study of new tuberculosis (TB) cases diagnosed in Espírito Santo state, Brazil between 1998 and 2007.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA fingerprint clusters and its relationship with RD(Rio) genotype in Brazil.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains designated as RD(Rio) are responsible for a large cluster of new cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Rio de Janeiro. They were previously shown to be associated with severe manifestations of TB. Here, we used three genotyping methods (IS6110 RFLP, spoligotyping, and multiplex PCR) to characterize RD(Rio) and non-RD(Rio) strains from the metropolitan area of Vitória, State of Espirito Santo in southeast Brazil to determine strain diversity and transmission patterns.