article · BMC Infectious Diseases
Drug-resistant tuberculosis remains a continuous public health challenge in Ethiopia, where local baseline epidemiological data have been limited. An assessment in the South Gondar Zone analysed 111 culture-positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates using region of difference 9 polymerase chain reaction and spoligotyping. Drug susceptibility against rifampicin and isoniazid was subsequently determined through the GenoType MTBDRplus assay. Overall, 18.0 percent of the isolates exhibited resistance to at least one of these two first-line antibiotics. Drug resistance appeared in 16.7 percent of newly diagnosed patients and 23.8 percent of previously treated cases. Multi-drug resistant strains were identified in 1.8 percent of the patient cohort. Furthermore, isolates belonging to the Euro-American lineage showed significantly higher rates of drug resistance compared to other lineages, underscoring the critical need to reinforce regional tuberculosis management and control programmes.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis undermines standard treatment regimens, making infections harder to cure and increasing the risk of community transmission. By establishing baseline resistance figures and identifying circulating genetic lineages in northwest Ethiopia, these findings provide essential evidence for public health authorities to strengthen surveillance, tailor disease intervention strategies, and optimise therapeutic protocols in high-burden settings.
The abstract describes observational diagnostic research rather than a direct product development initiative. The findings primarily inform public health bodies and diagnostic laboratories monitoring drug susceptibility patterns using established molecular assays such as GenoType MTBDRplus. Beyond demonstrating the utility of molecular testing tools within regional healthcare surveillance, the abstract does not indicate an explicit commercial application pathway.
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Drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) has become a persistent health threat in Ethiopia. In this respect, baseline data are scarce in many parts of high TB burden regions including the different zones of Ethiopia. A total of 111 culture positive M. tuberculosis isolates were recovered from TB patients and identified using region of difference (RD) 9 based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and spoligotyping. Thereafter, their drug sensitivities to Rifampicin (RIF) and Isoniazid (INH) were evaluated using GenoType MTBDRplus assay. The result showed that 18.0% (20/111) of the isolates were resistant to either RIF or INH. Furthermore, 16.7 and 23.8% of the isolates from new and retreatment cases were resistant to any of the two anti-TB drugs, respectively. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB was detected on 1.8% (2/111) of all cases. Significantly higher frequencies of any drug resistance were observed among Euro-American (EA) major lineage (χ2: 9.67; p = 0.046). Considerably high proportion of drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains was detected which could suggest a need for an increased effort to strengthen TB control program in the study area.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12879-019-3978-3
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