Abstract
BACKGROUND: Emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) represents an enormous challenge to Public Health globally. METHODS: Progression towards XDR-TB was investigated in Belgium, a country with a typically low TB incidence, by analyzing the magnitude, characteristics, and treatment success of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) through a population-based study from 1994 to 2008. RESULTS: Among the 174 MDR-TB patients, 81% were foreign-born, 48% of these being asylum seekers. Although the number of MDR-TB patients remained stable through the study period at around 15 new cases annually, frequencies of resistance of the patients' first MDR-TB isolate to second-line drugs increased, as well as the total number of antibiotics it was resistant to (p
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | PLoS ONE |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Pages (from-to) | e63128 |
| ISSN | 1932-6203 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- Bacterial diseases
- Tuberculosis
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- Epidemiology
- Trends
- Drug resistance
- Risk groups
- Immigrants
- Asylum seekers
- Antibiotics
- Second-line drugs
- Asia
- Europe-Central
- Europe-East
- Beijing genotype
- Strains
- Belgium
- Europe-West