Hyper transmission of Beijing lineage Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: The globally distributed “Beijing” lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been associated with outbreaks worldwide. Laboratory based studies have suggested that Beijing lineage may have increased fitness; however, it has not been established whether these differences are of epidemiological significance with regards to transmission. Therefore, we undertook a systematic review of epidemiological studies of tuberculosis clustering to compare the transmission dynamics of Beijing lineages versus the non-Beijing lineages. Methods: We systematically searched Embase and MEDLINE before 31st December 2018, for studies which provided information on the transmission dynamics of the differ..