Geospatial mapping of drug-resistant tuberculosis prevalence in Africa at national and sub-national levels.

Int J Infect Dis

School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Australia; Geospatial and Tuberculosis Research Team, Telethon Kids Institute, Australia. Electronic address:

Published: January 2025

Objective: To map subnational and local prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) across Africa.

Methods: We assembled a geolocated dataset from 173 sources across 31 African countries, comprising drug susceptibility test results and covariate data from publicly available databases. We used Bayesian model-based geostatistical framework with multivariate Bayesian logistic regression model to estimate DR-TB prevalence at lower administrative levels.

Results: We estimated 148,239 DR-TB cases (95% Uncertainty Interval [UI]: 17,499- 313,683) in Africa, showing significant variation by country. Eswatini and South Africa had highest case numbers, while Algeria and Egypt had the lowest. The highest DR-TB prevalence was estimated in Eswatini (53.26; 95%UI 13.13-66.12), Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa, while the lowest prevalence was found in Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Mali. Marked subnational variation in DR-TB prevalence was noted, where 91 subnational areas across 12 countries had prevalence rates higher than their respective national averages. Factors such as mean temperature (β=2.01; 95% CrI: 1.21, 3.42), population density (β=0.41; 95% CrI: 0.19, 0.95), and fine particulate matter (β=0.66; 95% CrI: 0.20, 0.80) were positively associated with DR-TB prevalence.

Conclusion: The study highlights substantial national and subnational variability in DR-TB prevalence across Africa, aiding policymakers in designing localized TB control interventions.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2025.107777DOI Listing

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