Multidrug -Resistance in Tuberculosis Infected Children with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in South-East Nigeria

Osuji Mary Faustina Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common opportunistic infection in human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected patients especially children. Emergence of drug resistant TB is a growing problem in... [ view full abstract ]

Osuji Mary Faustina
Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common opportunistic infection in human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected patients especially children. Emergence of drug resistant TB is a growing problem in resource-limited settings especially in the presence of HIV infection. Evidence of first line resistance is currently very scanty in Nigeria. This study, carried out from January 2014 to December 2015 in Onitsha and Nkpor which are two major commercial cities in Anambra Southeastern Nigeria, was designed to evaluate the prevalence of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in tuberculosis infected children with HIV between 5 to 15 years of age and to access potential risk factors for MDR-TB in tuberculosis infected children with HIV. 53 sputum samples were collected from treated and non-treated new TB cases and were tested for the detection of possible mutation in the resistance specific gene through GeneXpert MTB/RIF tests. Culture based conventional drug susceptibility test (DST) was also carried out. Among 53 samples 36 (67.9%) were found to be resistant against rifampicin in GeneXpert methods, while 31 (58.5%) cases of rifampicine resistance were detected by conventional DST methods. On the other hand 26 (49.1%) isolated showed isoniazid resistance as detected by DST method. MDR-TB in children has been associated with inadequate treatment regimens, poorly managed TB control programme, poor adherence to treatment, unenforced hospital infection control programme as well as poor response to HIV treatment.
Key Words: TB, Drug resistance, HIV