Alternatives to culture are needed in high burden countries to assess whether response to treatment of multidrug-resistant-tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is satisfactory. The objective was to assess the association of weight gain and treatment outcome. The methods included analysis of clinical, bacteriologic, and weight from 439 MDR-TB patients in the Philippines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The prevalence of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis is increasing due to the expanded use of second-line drugs in people with multidrug-resistant (MDR) disease. We prospectively assessed resistance to second-line antituberculosis drugs in eight countries.
Methods: From Jan 1, 2005, to Dec 31, 2008, we enrolled consecutive adults with locally confirmed pulmonary MDR tuberculosis at the start of second-line treatment in Estonia, Latvia, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and Thailand.
Background: The Xpert MTB/RIF test (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) can detect tuberculosis and its multidrug-resistant form with very high sensitivity and specificity in controlled studies, but no performance data exist from district and subdistrict health facilities in tuberculosis-endemic countries. We aimed to assess operational feasibility, accuracy, and effectiveness of implementation in such settings.
Methods: We assessed adults (≥18 years) with suspected tuberculosis or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis consecutively presenting with cough lasting at least 2 weeks to urban health centres in South Africa, Peru, and India, drug-resistance screening facilities in Azerbaijan and the Philippines, and an emergency room in Uganda.