TY - JOUR AU - Ritacco, Viviana AU - López, Beatriz AU - Ambroggi, Marta AU - Palmero, Domingo AU - Salvadores, Bernardo AU - Gravina, Elida AU - Mazzeo, Eduardo AU - Imaz, Susana AU - Barrera, Lucía T1 - HIV Infection and Geographically Bound Transmission of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, Argentina T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2012 VL - 18 IS - 11 SP - 1802 SN - 1080-6059 AB - During 2003–2009, the National Tuberculosis (TB) Laboratory Network in Argentina gave 830 patients a new diagnosis of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB and 53 a diagnosis of extensively drug- resistant (XDR) TB. HIV co-infection was involved in nearly one third of these cases. Strain genotyping showed that 7 major clusters gathered 56% of patients within restricted geographic areas. The 3 largest clusters corresponded to epidemic MDR TB strains that have been undergoing transmission for >10 years. The indigenous M strain accounted for 29% and 40% of MDR and XDR TB cases, respectively. Drug-resistant TB trends in Argentina are driven by spread of a few strains in hotspots where the rate of HIV infection is high. To curb transmission, the national TB program is focusing stringent interventions in these areas by strengthening infection control in large hospitals and prisons, expediting drug resistance detection, and streamlining information-sharing systems between HIV and TB programs. KW - multidrug-resistant tuberculosis KW - extensively drug resistant tuberculosis KW - antimicrobial resistance KW - tuberculosis and other mycobacteria KW - TB KW - MDR TB KW - XDR TB KW - co-infection KW - HIV KW - genotype KW - Argentina KW - restriction fragment length polymorphism KW - geography KW - disease transmission DO - 10.3201/eid1811.120126 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/11/12-0126_article ER - End of Reference