Occurrence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis among patients with suspected tuberculosis in Katsina State north western Nigeria

Abstract

Background: A couple of decades ago, experts in the study of Tuberculosis excogitated that multi drug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is uncommon in sub-Saharan Africa due to the delayed introduction of rifamycin based regimens. However, previous studies showed that 21% of the global MDR-TB burden occurs in the region; with South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia ranking first second and third, respectively.

Aims and objectives: the objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of drug resistant tuberculosis in patients suspected of having tuberculosis. The aims are: to determine the prevalence of MDR-TB in the non HIV patients presenting with persistent cough, to determine the prevalence of MDR-TB in HIV infected patients and to appraise the extent of the association between MDR-TB and HIV in this region.

Methods: Eight hundred and twenty four (824) sputa were collected from suspected participants and analyzed for the presence Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin resistant strains using a nucleic acid amplification test based machine, Gene expert (Cepheid inc. USA).

Results: One hundred and seventy three (21.0%) of the 824 had MTB and 13(7.5%) of the MTB cases were MDR-TB.

Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of MDR-TB among patients with chronic cough in the region and it is found in both HIV positive and negative patients.