Reduced transmission of Mycobacterium africanum compared to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in urban West Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Understanding transmission dynamics is useful for tuberculosis (TB) control. A population-based molecular epidemiological study was conducted to determine TB transmission in Ghana.

Methods

Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates obtained from prospectively sampled pulmonary TB patients between July 2012 and December 2015 were characterized using spoligotyping and standard 15-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing for transmission studies.

Results

Out of 2309 MTBC isolates, 1082 (46.9%) unique cases were identified, with 1227 (53.1%) isolates belonging to one of 276 clusters. The recent TB transmission rate was estimated to be 41.2%. Whereas TB strains of lineage 4 belonging to M. tuberculo

SUBMITTER: Asare P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6069673 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature