Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Havana, Cuba, 2009.

Objectives: To estimate the proportion of tuberculosis cases attributable to recent transmission and the risk factors possibly associated with tuberculosis clustering.

Methods: Population-based study combining information from epidemiological investigation of tuberculosis cases notified to the National Tuberculosis Control Program in Havana, Cuba, in 2009 with the results of genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates with variable number tandem repeat of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (MIRU-VNTR) typing.

Results: Of 186 cases, 61 were genotyped: 33 patterns and five clusters with 19, 7, 3, 2 and 2 cases were found.