Tuberculosis Among Household Contacts of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Cases at a Tertiary Hospital in Lucknow, India

BackgroundMultidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is caused by strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it is transmitted through air droplets from infected person and Close contacts of MDR-TB patients have a high potential to developing TB. This study aims to determine the profile of TB/multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) among household contacts of MDR-TB patients. Material and MethodsThe cases were recruited from the King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India. In this cross-sectional study, Close contacts of MDR-TB patients were screened for tuberculosis. clinical, radiological and bacteriological experiments were performed to find out the evidence of TB/MDR-TB. ResultsThe cases were enrolled Between December 2015 to December 2016, a total of 100 index MDR-TB patients were recruited which initiated on MDR-TB treatment. A total of 428 contacts who could be studied, 11 (2.57%) were diagnosed with MDR-TB and 4 (0.93%) had TB. The most frequent symptoms observed in patients were cough, chest pain and fever. ConclusionsTracing symptomatic contacts of MDR-TB cases could be a high yield strategy for early detection and treatment of MDR-TB cases to contribute to reduced morbidity, mortality and to cut the chain of transmission of infection in the community. The approach should be bringing about for wider implementation and dissemination. Key-wordsTB, MDR-TB, Symptomatic, Household, Transmission INTRODUCTION Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is caused by strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is resistant to at both isoniazid (INH, H) and rifampicin (RMP, R) that are two most powerful 1 st line anti TB drugs, it is transmitted through air droplets from infected person and Close contacts of MDR-TB patients have a high potential to developing TB. Because of the emergence of resistant nature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, tuberculosis adopted more alarming nature in the form of MDR-TB, is a global occurrence that poses a serious threat to ongoing national TB control programmes. India accounts for about a quarter of the global TB burden. Worldwide India is the country with the highest burden of both TB and MDR-TB [1] . There are an estimated 79,000 multi-drug resistant TB patients among the notified cases of pulmonary TB each year. Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: