Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampin resistance, United Kingdom

Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 May;12(5):752-9. doi: 10.3201/eid1205.041339.

Abstract

The United Kingdom Health Protection Agency Mycobacterium Reference Unit offers a national "Fastrack" molecular service for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and rifampin resistance by using the INNO-LiPA Rif.TB assay. We analyzed the service in a routine, nontrial context of 1,997 primary clinical specimens, including 658 nonrespiratory specimens. The overall adjusted concordance, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for detecting MTBC were 91.2%, 85.2%, 96.2%, 95.7%, and 86.7%, respectively (unadjusted, 86.7%, 85.2%, 88.2%, 86.9%, and 86.7%), when false-positive samples from patients (n = 83) with a known microbiologic diagnosis of MTBC or patients receiving current or recent antituberculous treatment were excluded. The parameters for detecting rifampin resistance were 99.1%, 95.0%, 99.6%, 92.7%, and 99.7%, respectively. The assay enabled earlier diagnosis of MTBC and rifampin resistance (15.2 days) compared with culture-based techniques (30.7 days).

MeSH terms

  • Antibiotics, Antitubercular / pharmacology
  • Antibiotics, Antitubercular / therapeutic use*
  • Bacterial Typing Techniques
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / drug effects*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / standards*
  • Rifampin / pharmacology
  • Rifampin / therapeutic use*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Time Factors
  • Tuberculosis / drug therapy*
  • Tuberculosis / microbiology
  • United Kingdom

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antitubercular
  • Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
  • Rifampin