Four decades of transmission of a multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis outbreak strain
Nature Communications·
- DOI
- 10.1038/ncomms8119
- PMID
- 25960343
- PMCID
- PMC4432642
- OpenAlex
- W2264219219
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings demonstrate that multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis strains can circulate undetected for prolonged periods, underscoring challenges in early detection and control of resistant tuberculosis.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study sought to reconstruct the timeline of antimicrobial resistance acquisition in a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak strain circulating in Argentina.
Study design
The authors used phylogenetic and molecular clock methods to estimate the dates when the outbreak strain acquired resistance mutations.
Population and setting
The outbreak occurred in Argentina and involved a Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain that circulated for approximately four decades.
Main findings
The progenitor strain acquired resistance to isoniazid, streptomycin, and rifampicin by approximately 1973, with additional resistance to three more drugs by around 1979. The extensively resistant strain circulated for about 15 years before detection and roughly a decade before the earliest documented global transmission of similarly resistant strains.
Public-health relevance
The findings demonstrate that multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis strains can circulate undetected for prolonged periods, underscoring challenges in early detection and control of resistant tuberculosis.
Important limitations
This summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata. The original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation, including methodological details, validation of resistance dating estimates, and sample representativeness.
GIDS interpretation
The paper would be discoverable through tuberculosis disease surveillance, antimicrobial resistance monitoring systems, and outbreak investigation queries. It provides historical context on the emergence and silent transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis but does not reflect current surveillance data.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 8 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.