Implementing universal rifampicin testing for TB in Pakistan: results and implications for the TB response

SETTING: A large specialised chest hospital in Pakistan.OBJECTIVE: To study outcomes of comprehensive Xpert^® MTB/RIF and universal rifampicin testing.DESIGN: A hospital-based, 3-year retrospective record review of registered TB patients.RESULTS: During the study, 11 744 TB patients were registered when the number of annual notifications remained stagnant. Xpert use increased dramatically in adults with pulmonary TB (PTB) from less than 1% tested with Xpert alone in 2016, to 81.6% by 2018. Significant increases were seen in bacteriologically confirmed PTB in adults from 64% to 77.3% (P < 0.001). No remarkable changes were seen in testing and confirmation of PTB in children or extrapulmonary TB. Significantly lower (P < 0.001) rifampicin resistance (RR) was observed among those with smear-negative compared to those with smear-positive results among new (1.0% vs. 5.1%) and previously treated PTB cases (2.0% vs. 14.4%). Most importantly, a significant decline in RR was observed among previously treated individuals, from 15.4% (95%CI 12.2-19.0) to 8.6% (95%CI 6.6-11.0) during the study. A decrease in RR was also documented in newly diagnosed PTB patients, but this was not statistically significant.CONCLUSION: Universal rifampicin testing is feasible in adult PTB patients; a decline in RR was seen among previously treated individuals with PTB.