Narayanan, Sujatha and Das, Sulochana and Garg, R and Hari, Lalitha and Bhaskara Rao, Vijay and Frieden, T R and Narayanan, P R
(2002)
Molecular Epidemiology of Tuberculosis in a Rural Area of High
Prevalence in South India: Implications for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 40 (12).
pp. 4785-4788.
ISSN Print: 0095-1137; Online: 1098-660X
Abstract
Molecular and conventional epidemiologic techniques were used to study the mechanisms and risk factors
for tuberculosis transmission in a rural area with high prevalence in south India. Restriction fragment length
polymorphism analysis with IS6110 and direct repeat probes was performed with 378 Mycobacterium tuberculosis
isolates from patients. Forty-one percent of M. tuberculosis isolates harbored a single copy of IS6110. Of
378 patients, 236 had distinct strains; 142 (38%) shared a strain with other patients, indicating recent
infection. Older patients, those detected by a house-to-house community survey, and those hospitalized in a
sanatorium were more likely to have had a recent infection. These findings suggest that the majority of the
tuberculosis cases in south India were due to reactivation; therefore, efforts to control tuberculosis should be
sustained.
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