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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 96, No. 4, 2001, pp. 437-443
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Bioline Code: oc01067
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 96, No. 4, 2001, pp. 437-443
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Transmission of Tuberculosis in Havana, Cuba: a Molecular Epidemiological Study by IS6110 Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Typing
R Diaz; RI Gomez; E Restrepo; R Rumbaut; J Sevy-Court; JA Valdivia & D van Soolingen
Abstract
The combination of molecular and conventional epidemiological methods has improved the knowledge
about the transmission of tuberculosis in urban populations. To examine transmission of tuberculosis in
Havana, Cuba, with DNA fingerprinting, we studied 51 out of 92 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated
from tuberculosis patients who resided in Havana and whose infection was culture-confirmed in the period
from September 1997 to March 1998. Isolates from 28 patients (55%) had unique IS6110 restriction
fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns, while isolates from 23 others (45%) had identical patterns
and belonged to 7 clusters. Three clusters consisting of six, five and two cases were each related to small
outbreaks that occurred in a closed setting. Three other clustered cases were linked to a large outbreak that occurred in another institution. Younger patients were more correlated to clustering than older ones. The finding that 45% of the isolates had clustered RFLP patterns suggests that recent transmission is a key
factor in the tuberculosis cases in Havana. The IS6110 RFLP typing made it possible to define the
occurrence of outbreaks in two closed institutions.
Keywords
DNA fingerprinting, epidemiology, IS6110 RFLP, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, transmission - Havana, Cuba
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