Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a South African community with high HIV prevalence.

Middelkoop, Keren; Bekker, Linda-Gail; Mathema, Barun; Shashkina, Elena; Kurepina, Natalia; Whitelaw, Andrew; Fallows, Dorothy; Morrow, Carl et al. · J Infect Dis · 2009

Where this comes from

Abstract

To explore the relationship between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes, we performed IS6110-based restriction fragment-length polymorphism analysis on M. tuberculosis culture specimens from patients with smear-positive tuberculosis in a periurban community in South Africa from 2001 through 2005. Among 151 isolates, 95 strains were identified within 26 families, with 54% clustering. HIV status was associated with W-Beijing strains (P = .009) but not with clustering per se. The high frequency of clustering suggests ongoing transmission in both HIV-negative and HIV-positive individuals in this community. The strong association between W-Beijing and HIV infection may have important implications for tuberculosis control.

Medical subject headings