Drug-resistant tuberculosis in Central Mozambique: the role of a rapid genotypic susceptibility testing

Genotypic molecular testing may be very helpful for tuberculosis (TB) drug-resistance surveillance and for treatment guidance in low resource settings.

Descriptive analysis of M. tuberculosis isolates from Beira Central Hospital, Mozambique, during 2014-2015. Genotype MTBDRplus and MTBDRsl were used and patient medical records reviewed. To explore genotypic susceptibility profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to first and second line drugs (SLD) in Beira Mozambique.

Of 155 isolates, 16.1 % (25) were multidrug resistant (MDR), 8.4 % (13) isoniazid-monoresistant and 1.3 % (2) rifampicin-monoresistant. Among MDR-TB, 22.2 % showed primary and 77.8 % represented acquired resistance. The majority of patients with drug resistance had a history of previous TB treatment. Among 125 isolates tested for ethambutol and SLD, 7.2 % (9) were resistant to ethambutol, 4.8 % (6) to fluoroquinolones and 0.8 % (1) to ethambutol and fluoroquinolones. Resistance to injectable SLD was not detected.

As far as we know this is the first report of a genotypic testing used to provide information about SLD resistance in Mozambique, where phenotypic susceptibility testing is usually unavailable. Extensively drug resistant TB was not detected in this isolates from Beira Mozambique.