ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) of the Government of India has strived to control tuberculosis (TB) in the country through various interventions. Understanding the trends of resistance patterns may provide insights into the effectiveness of TB control activities in the country. METHODS: A total of 31,144 clinical samples were received from 2013 to 2022 from presumptive drug-resistant TB patients. All the specimens were decontaminated and subjected to the line probe assay for detection of resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) was detected in 28,814 samples. Autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA) was fitted to assess the trend over time. RESULTS: A decreasing trend in multi-drug resistant TB from 19 % in 2013 to 4 % in 2022 was seen. A decreasing trend in rifampicin monoresistance from 11.2 % in 2013 to 1.5 % in 2022 was seen, though there was an increase in resistance in 2017. No significant decreasing trends were seen in the proportion of isoniazid monoresistance from 8.3 % in 2013 to 7 % in 2022. CONCLUSION: The findings are encouraging, and to a considerable extent, affirm that India is well on track with regard to the goal of TB elimination.
ABSTRACT
Undernutrition is the leading risk factor for tuberculosis (TB) globally and in India. This multicenter prospective cohort analysis from India suggests that undernutrition is associated with increased risk of TB disease but not TB infection among household contacts of persons with TB.