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Volume 19, Number 5—May 2013
CME ACTIVITY - Research

Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing Strains, Alberta, Canada, 1991–2007

Deanne Langlois-Klassen, Ambikaipakan Senthilselvan, Linda Chui, Dennis Kunimoto, L. Duncan Saunders, Dick Menzies, and Richard LongComments to Author 
Author affiliations: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (D. Langlois-Klassen, A. Senthilselvan, L. Chui, D. Kunimoto, L.D. Saunders, R. Long); Provincial Laboratory for Public Health, Edmonton (L. Chui); McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (D. Menzies); McGill University, Montreal (D. Menzies)

Main Article

Table 1

Characteristics of persons with pulmonary TB associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing and non-Beijing strains, Alberta, Canada, 1991–2007

Characteristic Strain
OR (95% CI)*
Beijing, no. (%) Non-Beijing, no. (%) Unadjusted Adjusted
Sex
F 100 (38.8) 492 (43.9) 1.0 1.0
M
158 (61.2)
629 (56.1)

1.2 (0.9–1.6)
1.3 (0.9–1.8)
Age at diagnosis, y
<35 72 (27.9) 319 (28.5) 1.0 1.0
35–64 69 (26.7) 421 (37.6) 0.7 (0.5–1.04) 0.7 (0.1–1.01)
>64
117 (45.3)
381 (34.0)

1.4 (0.98–1.9)
1.1 (0.7–1.6)
Population group
Canadian-born 19 (7.4) 520 (46.4) 1.0 1.0
Foreign-born, other 26 (10.1) 346 (30.9) 2.1 (1.1–3.8) 2.1 (1.1–4.1)
Foreign-born, Western Pacific
213 (82.6)
255 (22.7)

22.9 (14.0–37.4)
22.6 (13.1–39.2)
Sputum smear status†
Negative 132 (54.1) 517 (49.0) 1.0 1.0
Positive
112 (45.9)
538 (51.0)

0.8 (0.6–1.1)
1.2 (0.8–1.7)
Bacillary load‡§
Low 38 (70.4) 177 (66.5) 1.0
High
16 (29.6)
89 (33.5)

0.8 (0.4–1.6)

Results of chest radiography
No cavitation 206 (79.8) 853 (76.1) 1.0 1.0
Cavitation
52 (20.2)
268 (23.9)

0.8 (0.6–1.1)
0.8 (0.5–1.3)
Drug resistance
Pan-susceptible 202 (78.3) 1000 (89.2) 1.0 1.0
Monoresistance 30 (11.6) 90 (8.0) 1.7 (1.1–2.6) 0.8 (0.5–1.3)
Polyresistance 20 (7.8) 25 (2.2) 4.0 (2.2–7.3) 1.7 (0.9–3.5)
Multidrug resistance
6 (2.3)
6 (0.5)

5.0 (1.6–15.5)
3.7 (0.9–14.7)
Clustering
Nonclustered 203 (78.7) 703 (62.7) 1.0 1.0
Clustered
55 (21.3)
418 (37.3)

0.5 (0.3–0.6)
0.8 (0.6–1.3)
Total 258 (100.0) 1,121 (100.0)

*Boldface indicates significance (p<0.05). TB, tuberculosis; OR, odds ratio.
†Sputum smear microscopy was not completed for all cases.
‡Semiquantitative scores for acid-fast bacilli load on the baseline sputum smear. Positive smears with semiquantitative scores of 3+ or 4+ were categorized as having high bacillary load; all remaining positive smears were labeled as having a low bacillary load.
§Bacillary load was not included in multivariate modeling because of multicollinearity with sputum smear status.

Main Article

Page created: April 25, 2013
Page updated: April 25, 2013
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