Rossana Coimbra Brito

Óbitos atribuídos à tuberculose no Estado do Rio de Janeiro

INTRODUCAO:Em 1998, o Rio de Janeiro era o estado de maior incidencia e mortalidade por tuberculose do Brasil. O Sistema de Informacao de Agravos de Notificacao em Tuberculose (SINAN-TB-RJ) nao era confiavel. OBJETIVO: Utilizar o estudo dos obitos por tuberculose como instrumento de avaliacao do programa de controle de tuberculose. METODO: Foram realizados estudos descritivos do SINAN-TB-RJ e do Sistema de Informacao de Mortalidade em tuberculose do Rio de Janeiro (SIM-TB-RJ) e os dois bancos de dados foram cruzados utilizando-se o programa Reclink. Foi tambem realizado um estudo baseado em prontuarios dos cinco hospitais onde ocorreu o maior numero de obitos por tuberculose. RESULTADOS: Em 1998 foram registrados no SINAN-TB-RJ 16.567 casos de tuberculose em maiores de 14 anos. A forma pulmonar estava presente em 13.989 (84,5%) casos, dos quais 8.223 (56,8%) tiveram baciloscopia positiva. A sorologia anti-HIV, recomendada para todos os pacientes com tuberculose, foi solicitada em apenas 4.141 (25%) casos. No SIM-TB-RJ foram registrados 1.146 obitos, dos quais 478 (41,7%) casos haviam sido notificados no SINAN-TB-RJ, entre 1995 e 1998. Dos 302 prontuarios estudados, em 154 (50,9%) o periodo de internacao foi inferior a 10 dias. O tempo entre o inicio dos sintomas e o diagnostico foi superior a 60 dias em 143 (47,3%) pacientes. Dos 125 pacientes em re-tratamento, para apenas 43 (34,4%) foi prescrito o esquema RHZE recomendado pelo Ministerio da Saude. CONCLUSAO: O estudo demonstra que a tuberculose e sub-notificada, o diagnostico e tardio, a utilizacao dos exames laboratoriais recomendados e baixa e as normas do Ministerio da Saude nao sao cumpridas.

Spoligotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates from patients residents of 11 states of Brazil

One of the high tuberculosis (TB) incidence countries in the world, Brazil is characterized by considerable differences in TB incidence on regional and state level. In the present study, we describe Brazilian spoligotypes of 1991 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) clinical isolates from patients residents of 11 states from different regions of the country, diagnosed between 1996 and 2005. By performing spoligotyping on a large number of M. tuberculosis clinical isolates, one of the main objectives of this study was to determine the major genotype families causing TB in Brazil and to verify the region-associated genotype distribution. We observed a total of 577 distinct spoligopatterns, 12.6% of these corresponded to orphan patterns while 87.4% belonged to 326 shared-types (SITs). Among the latter, 86 SITs (isolated from 178 patients) had been observed for the first time in this study, the most frequent being SIT2517 which belonged to the T3-ETH lineage and was exclusively found among patients residents of Belém, the capital of the state of Pará (n=8 isolates). Irrespective of shared-type labeling, a total of 19.5% strains were unique (unclustered) in our study as opposed to 80.5% clustered isolates (189 clusters, size range from 2 to 205 isolates). The three largest clusters were SIT42 of the Latin-America & Mediterranean (LAM) 9 clade (10.3%), SIT53 of the T clade (7.6%), and SIT50 of the Haarlem clade (5.4%). The predominant MTC lineages in Brazil in decreasing order belonged to the LAM (46%); the ill-defined T (18.6%); the Haarlem (12.2%), the X (4.7%), the S (1.9%), and the East African Indian (EAI) (0.85%) families. The rest of clades grouped together as Mycobacterium africanum, Mycobacterium bovis, Beijing, Central Asian (CAS), and the Manu types, represented less than 1% of the strains. Finally, about 15% of the isolates showed spoligotype signatures that were not yet classified among well-defined lineages. In conclusion, we provide hereby a first insight into the population structure of MTC isolates in Brazil, showing the predominance of both LAM and T family and the existence of region-associated genotypes.

Resistência aos medicamentos anti-tuberculose de cepas de Mycobacterium tuberculosis isoladas de pacientes atendidos em hospital geral de referência para tratamento de AIDS no Rio de Janeiro

BACKGROUND:Tuberculosis become important challenge to health care settings. Brazil has high prevalence of the disease and Rio de Janeiro has high incidence rates with 30% of cases notified at hospitals. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate prevalence of initial and acquired drug resistance at a general hospital, reference for aids treatment in Rio de Janeiro and to identify associated factors. METHODS: Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from 165 patients were analyzed, between August 1996 and February 1998. RESULTS: Twenty per cent (33/165) were resistant to at least one drug; 13% (12/165) to isoniazid; 3.64% (6/165) to rifampin and 3.64% (6/165) to both. Among HIV seropositive subjects (52/165); 28.85% (15/52) were resistant to at least one drug. Acquired resistance occurred in 15.79% of 19 patients that mentioned previous antiTB treatment. Association statistically significant was found with non cavitation on X-ray in bivariate analyses (P=0.05). Eighty four patients refereed no previous treatment (NPT). Resistance to 1 or more drugs was found in 28.57% (24/84) of NPT patients. Association statistically significant with initial resistance was found with health care workers (P=0.004), unemployment (P=0.03), and diarrhea (P=0.01) in bivariate analyses. On multivariate analyses, health care workers (P=0.002) remained significantly associated with initial resistance. CONCLUSIONS: High resistance rates was found. It corroborates that hospitals needs attention for TB control especially which concerns to health care works infection.

Perfil epidemiológico de pacientes portadores de TB internados em um hospital de referência na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

OBJETIVO: Analisar o perfil epidemiologico dos pacientes internados em um hospital especializado no tratamento da TB. METODOS: Foi realizado estudo descritivo e retrospectivo dos prontuarios dos pacientes internados com TB no Hospital Estadual Santa Maria (HESM), na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, entre janeiro de 2002 e dezembro de 2003, por meio de formulario previamente padronizado. RESULTADOS: Dos 451 pacientes incluidos, 313 (69,4%) foram referenciados para o HESM por unidades de saude, e 302 (67,0%) eram do genero masculino. A maioria dos pacientes tinha entre 30 e 59 anos, 443 (98,2%) residiam na regiao metropolitana, e 298 (66,1%) residiam no municipio do Rio de Janeiro. O motivo de internacao mais frequente foi mau estado geral (em 237, 52,5%). A AIDS foi a comorbidade mais frequente (em 137, 30,4%). Os sinais e sintomas mais frequentes no momento da internacao foram emagrecimento, febre e tosse produtiva. A baciloscopia foi positiva em 122 casos (71,0%) com tosse produtiva no momento da internacao. Dos 212 pacientes que estavam em retratamento, 156 (73,6%) referiram abandono a tratamento anterior. Quanto ao desfecho, 297 (65,8%) foram encaminhados para centros municipais de saude, 83 (18,4%) evoluiram para obito, e 44 (9,8%) curaram. As altas indesejadas ocorreram em 27 (6,0%) dos casos. CONCLUSOES: A provisao de hospitais especializados em TB e de relevância para o controle da TB, principalmente em regioes metropolitanas. Esses hospitais precisam estar adequados a medidas de biosseguranca, assim como estar mais bem equipados e capacitados para prestar atendimento a pacientes com diversas comorbidades e problemas sociais associados a TB. A realizacao deste estudo resultou em melhorias para o HESM.

Typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in Community Health Centers of Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil

Fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from tuberculosis (TB) patients attended in Community Health Centers (CHCs) of Rio de Janeiro was performed to verify possible risk factors for TB transmission. A prospective community-based study was performed during the period of July 1996 to December 1996 by collecting sputum samples of 489 patients in 11 different CHCs in four different planning areas (APs) of the city. Bacteriological, clinical, and epidemiological information was collected and M. tuberculosis genotypes defined after restriction fragment length polymorphism (IS6110-RFLP) and double repetitive element (DRE) fingerprinting of RFLP-clustered cases. Risk factors for TB transmission were looked for using three levels of cluster stringency. Among 349 (71%) positive cultures obtained, IS6110-RFLP typing could be performed on strains from 153 different patients. When using identity of RFLP patterns as cluster definition, 49 (32%) of the strains belonged to a cluster and none of the clinical or epidemiologic characteristics was associated with higher clustering levels. However, higher clustering level was observed in the AP including the central region of the city when compared to others. This strongly suggests that more recent transmission occurs in that area and this may be related with higher incidence of TB and HIV in this region.

Antimicrobial susceptibility determined by the E test, Löwenstein-Jensen proportion, and DNA sequencing methods among Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates - discrepancies, preliminary results

Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains resistant to streptomycin (SM), isoniazid (INH), and/or rifampin (RIF) as determined by the conventional Löwenstein-Jensen proportion method (LJPM) were compared with the E test, a minimum inhibitory concentration susceptibility method. Discrepant isolates were further evaluated by BACTEC and by DNA sequence analyses for mutations in genes most often associated with resistance to these drugs (rpsL, katG, inhA, and rpoB). Preliminary discordant E test results were seen in 75% of isolates resistant to SM and in 11% to INH. Discordance improved for these two drugs (63%) for SM and none for INH when isolates were re-tested but worsened for RIF (30%). Despite good agreement between phenotypic results and sequencing analyses, wild type profiles were detected on resistant strains mainly for SM and INH. It should be aware that susceptible isolates according to molecular methods might contain other mechanisms of resistance. Although reproducibility of the LJPM susceptibility method has been established, variable E test results for some M. tuberculosis isolates poses questions regarding its reproducibility particularly the impact of E test performance which may vary among laboratories despite adherence to recommended protocols. Further studies must be done to enlarge the evaluated samples and looked possible mutations outside of the hot spot sequenced gene among discrepant strains.