The epidemiological fitness cost of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis has raised the concern that pathogen strains that are virtually untreatable may become widespread. The acquisition of resistance to antibiotics results in a longer duration of infection in a host, but this resistance may come at a cost through a decreased transmission rate. This raises the question of whether the overall fitness of drug-resistant strains is higher than that of sensitive strains--essential information for predicting the spread of the disease. Here, we directly estimate the transmission cost of drug resistance, the rate at which resistance evolves, and the relative fitness of resistant strains. These estimates are made by using explicit models of the transmission and evolution of sensitive and resistant str

SUBMITTER: Luciani F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2732896 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature