Epidemiological features of multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis in the Belgorod Region

Objective. To establish the epidemiological features of primary drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Belgorod region to optimize anti-epidemic and preventive actions aimed at timely detecting the disease and locating its foci. Materials and methods. The prevalence of primary drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in newly diagnosed patients in the Belgorod region in the past 5 years (2006-2011) was studied. Results. With the lower tuberculosis incidence rates among the Belgorod Region population, there was an increase in the proportion of bacillar patients. In 2006 to 2011, the proportion of first detected patients excreting M. tuberculosis resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin tended to increase by 13.2%, which was suggestive of the intensive circulation of the pathogen that was mutidrug-resistant to antituberculosis drugs. Conclusion. The developed method for epidemiologically studying tuberculosis foci, which includes the mapping of administrative areas in the Belgorod Region, can concentrate efforts to detect tuberculosis and to prevent its distribution in the epidemiologically most dangerous direction, namely in the tuberculosis endemic foci and also necessitates the introduction of molecular epidemiological and laboratory studies in these areas.

pulmonary tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, drug resistance, epidemic situation