Transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis within family households by DTM-PCR and MIRU-VNTR genotyping

Background Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a public health threat. There are few studies on transmission and genotyping of MDR-TB family households in China. This study aimed to investigate transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) within family households by deletion-targeted multiplex polymerase chain reaction (DTM-PCR), mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit variable number tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) genotyping. Methods Among 993 MDR-TB patients registered from Wuhan Institute for Tuberculosis Control, drug resistance and the time interval between the index patients and secondary patients were analyzed in 49 MDR-TB patients from 23 families, in which 22 MDR-TB strains from 11 families who had matched strains were genotyped by DTM-PCR and standard 24-loci MIRU-VNTR genotyping method. Results The time interval between the index patients and the secondary patients ranged from half a month to 110 months. Thirteen secondary patients developed active MDR-TB within two years and accounted for 50% (13/26) of all secondary patients. Among eleven pairs of MDR-TB families, six pairs had identical genotypes, the cluster rate was 54.5% (12/22); three pairs had a single MIRU-VNTR locus variation. If a single MIRU-VNTR locus variation was tolerated in the cluster definition, the cluster rate raised to 81.8% (18/22). Conclusions The family households of MDR-TB patients are at risk for infection of MDR-TB. To reduce transmission, MDR-TB patients should be diagnosed earlier and promptly treated in an effective manner, meanwhile, the close family contacts should be screened for TB infection.