Tuberculosis drug resistance in Canada: 2017

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance

Background:

• Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) poses a significant global health challenge.
• Canada has maintained TB surveillance systems for two decades to monitor drug resistance patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize drug resistance in Canadian TB isolates in 2017.
• To analyze resistance by type, geography, demographics, and origin.
• To compare 2017 data with trends from the preceding 10 years.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Canadian Tuberculosis Laboratory Surveillance System (CTBLSS) for drug susceptibility testing (DST) results.
• Integrated data from the Canadian Tuberculosis Reporting System (CTBRS) for case origin (foreign-born, Canadian-born Indigenous, Canadian-born non-Indigenous).
• Performed descriptive analysis and comparative analysis with data from 2007-2016.

Main Results:

• In 2017, 8.1% (123/1,515) of TB isolates exhibited resistance to first-line drugs; no extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) was reported.
• Drug resistance was observed across seven provinces/territories, with higher percentages in younger adults (25-34 years) and foreign-born individuals.
• The overall percentage of drug-resistant TB isolates decreased from 10.5% in 2007 to 8.1% in 2017.

Conclusions:

• Tuberculosis drug resistance rates in Canada were low in 2017.
• Surveillance data indicates a positive trend of decreasing drug resistance over the past decade.