{"id":37459,"date":"2023-10-30T16:07:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T16:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=37459"},"modified":"2023-10-30T14:57:39","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T14:57:39","slug":"there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana","title":{"rendered":"There is a new TB variant scare in Botswana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. <\/strong><\/span><b>Botswana may be facing a fresh multi drug resistant catastrophe after it emerged that \u201ca tool (GeneXpert MTB\/RIF) widely used for diagnosing tuberculosis has limitations for detecting rifampin resistance in certain variants.\u201d Rifampin is a medication used to prevent and treat tuberculosis and other bacterial infections. In a paper published recently in the United State Government\u2019s state-owned Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers reported a \u201ctransmission of a pre\u2013extensively drug-resistant variant in Botswana that went undetected by GeneXpert.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The researchers noted that: \u201cThe public health impact of misdiagnosis emphasizes the need for comprehensive molecular testing to identify resistance and guide treatment.\u201d \u201cWe report a case of a multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strain in Botswana with a rifampin resistance\u2013conferring mutation&#8230;not detected by Xpert MTB\/RIF.\u201d The researchers found that the \u201cGenomic epidemiology suggested that the infection was part of a transmission chain spanning more than five years.\u201d According to the paper, the patient was a 44-year-old man who, in August 2021, sought treatment at a public health clinic in Botswana for cough, fever, and night sweats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe case-patient reported no previous TB history. He had also newly tested positive for HIV at the time of TB diagnosis and had a CD4+ T-cell count of 117 cells\/mm3, reflective of advanced HIV-associated immunosuppression,\u201d the report says. The report says the case-patient completed the 6-month rifampin and concurrently started antiretroviral therapy. His TB signs and symptoms resolved; sputum smear tests became negative, and by February 2022, treatment was successfully completed. But the report says in October 2022, the researchers\u2019 analysis found that \u201cthe patient carried a lineage 4.3.3 MTBC strain with some mutation, causing rifampin resistance not detected by the tool widely used to diagnose TB&#8230;\u201d The researchers indicated that a public health investigation conducted in November 2022 found that the case-patient remained asymptomatic \u201cbut was culture positive for MTBC on Mycobacteria growth indicator tube&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the report: \u201cDrug susceptibility testing indicated resistance to medications for treatment of TB&#8230;\u201d The researchers tested five members of the patient\u2019s household with Xpert MTB\/RIF and identified no additional TB cases. But in in January 2023, \u201cthe case-patient developed TB symptoms and was placed on an individualized pre\u2013XDR TB treatment&#8230;\u201d The researchers stated: \u201cWe are conducting additional investigations to explore the extent of the outbreak of undetected MTBC strains.\u201d The researchers found that: \u201cThis case demonstrates the clinical and public health utility of whole-genome sequencing for detecting TB drug resistance missed by conventional molecular tests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of note, the researchers said: \u201cFailing to detect the patient\u2019s pre\u2013XDR TB resulted in ineffective initial treatment and potentially over a year of infectious TB. Early&#8230; TB detection could have led to effective initial treatment and reduced the risk of onward transmission,\u201d the researchers said. The researchers also concluded that their \u201cstudy highlights the utility of WGS for identifying TB outbreaks and informing public health actions in high\u2013TB burden countries.\u201d They observed that \u201cthat approach supports the World Health Organization\u2019s recent strategic guidelines for rapidly communicating results from targeted next-generation sequencing combined with conventional tests to inform TB treatment decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers indicated that: \u201cAlthough Botswana has had remarkable success in improving HIV management, persons not adequately reached by the HIV care system remain at elevated risk of developing TB, including drug-resistant forms.\u201d The authors of the study further stated that \u201cAdditional efforts are needed to ensure that high-quality HIV and TB care are delivered to underserved communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\">Botswana<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. Botswana may be facing a fresh multi drug resistant catastrophe after it emerged that \u201ca tool (GeneXpert MTB\/RIF) widely used for diagnosing tuberculosis has limitations for detecting rifampin resistance in certain variants.\u201d Rifampin is a medication used to prevent and treat tuberculosis and other bacterial infections. In a paper published recently in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":37458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-37459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>There is a new TB variant scare in Botswana - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Botswana may be facing a fresh multi drug resistant catastrophe after it emerged that \u201ca tool (GeneXpert MTB\/RIF) wid ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There is a new TB variant scare in Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Botswana may be facing a fresh multi drug resistant catastrophe after it emerged that \u201ca tool (GeneXpert MTB\/RIF) wid ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-30T16:07:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/10\/sm_1698665179.684321.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"There is a new TB variant scare in Botswana\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-30T16:07:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana\"},\"wordCount\":596,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/10\/sm_1698665179.684321.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/there-is-a-new-tb-variant-scare-in-botswana\",\"name\":\"There is a new TB variant scare in Botswana - 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