Primary and secondary resistance to first-line anti-tuberculosis medications at the Institute Pasteur Bangui, Central African Republic

The emergence and spread of anti-tuberculosis-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis presently represents a real challenge to the WHO's End TB by 2035 strategy. Through this study, we wanted to determine the current prevalence of primary and secondary resistance to first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs at the Pasteur Institute in Bangui. Cultures and sensitivity tests were carried out for 6 months (July - December 2018) in 225 consenting tuberculosis patients. The prevalence was 4.1% in new cases and 25.2% in retreatment cases. Previous exposure to treatment has been the risk factor for the development of drug resistance. The resistance profile showed that 73.2% of patients were multidrug resistant (MDR) and 34.2% of retreatment patients presented resistance to all first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs; moreover, of the three new cases with resistance to anti-TB medicines, two showed multiple resistance, associating rifampicin and isoniazid. Surveillance of resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs at the national level is necessary because it will allow better control of tuberculosis in the Central African Republic. Key words: News cases, retreatement, MDR-TB, Risk factor, Bangui.