Journal article
Drug-resistant tuberculosis diagnosis since Xpert® MTB/RIF introduction in Papua New Guinea, 2012–2017
EK Lavu, K Johnson, J Banamu, S Pandey, R Carter, C Coulter, P Aia, SS Majumdar, BJ Marais, SM Graham, J Vince
Public Health Action | International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease | Published : 2019
DOI: 10.5588/pha.19.0005
Abstract
Setting: Xpert® MTB/RIF was introduced in Papua New Guinea in 2012 for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and of rifampicin-resistant TB (RR-TB), a marker of multidrug- resistant TB (MDR-TB). Objective: To assess the concordance of Xpert with phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) performed at the supranational reference laboratory and to describe the patterns of drug-resistant TB observed. Design: This was a retrospective descriptive study of laboratory data collected from April 2012 to December 2017. Results: In 69 months, 1408 specimens with Xpert results were sent for mycobacterial culture and DST; Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured from 63% (884/1408) and DST was completed..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank the management of the Queensland Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory (Brisbane, QLD, Australia); the Central Public Health Laboratory and the provincial laboratories in PNG; and especially M Kaupa, J Dume and M Keket for their support.This research was supported and facilitated by the first Operational Research Course for Tuberculosis in PNG, a specific training programme that was developed and implemented by the Burnet Institute (Melbourne, VIC, Australia) in collaboration with the PNG Institute of Medical Research (Goroka) and University of PNG (Port Moresby), and supported by the PNG National Department of Health Emergency Response Taskforce for MDR and XDR-TB, the National TB Programme and Western Provincial Health Office, Daru, PNG.The training programme was delivered as part of the Tropical Disease Research Regional Collaboration Initiative, which is supported by the Australian Government and implemented by Menzies School of Health Research (Darwin, NT, Australia) and the Burnet Institute. The views expressed in this publication are the authors' alone and are not necessarily the views of the Australian or PNG Governments. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.