PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F Drobniewski

Publications and source records attributed to F Drobniewski.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Tuberculosis and HIV seroprevalence in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham, an area of South London.

Since the mid-1980s the number of cases of TB notified within the U.K. has continued to rise although the contribution of HIV to this rise remains unclear. A 12-month prospective cohort study was conducted at chest and HIV clinics in four hospitals in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham (LSL), an area of South London, to determine the proportion of patients with culture-proven TB infected with HIV. Secondary aims were to determine the proportion of patients with TB and undiagnosed HIV at first presentation to chest clinics, to determine the proportion of patients presenting with TB as an AIDS defining illness (ADI) and to identify risk factors for co-infection with TB and HIV. In chest clinics, demographic data and left-over blood from patients aged 16 or over with culture-proven TB was collected, anonymised and HIV tested. In HIV clinics, demographic data on patients with TB already known to be HIV seropositive were also obtained. Twenty-one patients (13%, 95% CI-8-19%) of 159 with culture-proven TB were infected with HIV Four (3%) of 133 patients at first presentation to chest clinics had undiagnosed HIV; two were subsequently diagnosed. Of the 21 patients withTB and HIV, nine (43%) presented with TB as an ADI. Patients with TB and HIV were significantly more likely to be aged between 35 and 55 years compared to HIV seronegative patients [12/21 (57%) vs. 38/138 (28%), P=0.006]. None of the patients from the Indian Subcontinent were HIV seropositive [0/21 vs. 25/138 (18%), P=0.047]. At the present time, universal HIV testing of patients with culture-provenTB in chest clinics within the U.K. is unlikely to significantly reduce the number of patients with undiagnosed HIV.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2003

Surveillance of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in The Gambia.

To determine the rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis in The Gambia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained from 225 patients during a nationwide survey were tested against isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and streptomycin using the resistance ratio method. Only nine (4%) of the patients had strains that were resistant to one or more drugs. None of the patients with drug-resistant M. tuberculosis had previously been treated for tuberculosis. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is, as yet, not common in The Gambia. Periodic surveys for drug-resistant tuberculosis are recommended to monitor changes that may emerge over time.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Tuberculosis control in Samara Oblast, Russia: institutional and regulatory environment.

SETTING: Tuberculosis control programme in Samara Oblast, Russia, funded in part by the government of the United Kingdom. OBJECTIVE: To identify and evaluate institutional and regulatory influences as well as incentives and disincentives that might be amenable to change in the promotion of the DOTS strategy. DESIGN: Multidisciplinary situational analysis through in-depth interviews of stakeholders and review of official federal and oblast documents. RESULTS: Interpretation of traditional notification data is complex because classification and reporting systems differ from World Health Organization principles. Regulations governing financing encourage lengthy hospitalisations and interventions, and provide few incentives to shift policy to ambulatory care. CONCLUSION: Accurate comparability of epidemiological trends and programmatic successes requires equivalent classification and reporting systems. If the DOTS strategy is to be sustainable, changes to financing systems will be needed.

Federal Government↗
PubMed2002

The molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in inner London.

The study used DNA fingerprint typing (spoligotyping and Heminested-lnverse-PCR) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from all culture-confirmed inner London patients over a 12-month period to describe transmission. The methodology was evaluated by comparison with standard IS6110 typing and by examining its ability to identify known household clusters of cases. Isolates sharing indistinguishable typing patterns using both techniques were defined as clustered. Clusters were investigated to identify epidemiological links. The methodology showed good discriminatory power and identified known household clusters of cases. Of 694 culture-confirmed cases, 563 (81%) were typed. Eleven (2%) were due to laboratory cross-contamination and were excluded. Of the remaining 552 isolates 148 (27%) were clustered. Multivariate analysis indicated that clustering was more common in those with pulmonary smear positive disease (P < 0.02); those born in the United Kingdom (P < 0.0003) and in patients living in south London (P = 0.02). There was also a trend towards clustering being more common in those not known to have HIV infection (P = 0.051). The results suggest that in inner London, recent local transmission makes an important contribution to notification rates.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Estimation of the rate of unrecognized cross-contamination with mycobacterium tuberculosis in London microbiology laboratories.

Isolates from patients with confirmed tuberculosis from London were collected over 2.5 years between 1995 and 1997. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was performed by the international standard technique as part of a multicenter epidemiological study. A total of 2,779 samples representing 2,500 individual patients from 56 laboratories were examined. Analysis of these samples revealed a laboratory cross-contamination rate of between 0.54%, when only presumed cases of cross-contamination were considered, and 0.93%, when presumed and possible cases were counted. Previous studies suggest an extremely wide range of laboratory cross-contamination rates of between 0.1 and 65%. These data indicate that laboratory cross-contamination has not been a common problem in routine practice in the London area, but in several incidents patients did receive full courses of therapy that were probably unnecessary.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
PubMed2002

Antibiotic resistant tuberculosis in the United Kingdom: 1993-1999.

BACKGROUND: The re-emergence of tuberculosis as a global health problem over the past two decades, accompanied by an increase in tuberculosis drug resistance, prompted the development of a comprehensive national surveillance system for tuberculosis drug resistance in 1993. METHODS: The UK Mycobacterial Resistance Network (Mycobnet), which includes all mycobacterial reference and regional laboratories in the UK, collects a minimum dataset on all individuals from whom an initial isolate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex has been isolated and submitted by source hospital laboratories. Data sought include susceptibility to first line antibiotics, demographic, geographical, and risk factor information. RESULTS: There were 25 217 reports of initial isolates of M tuberculosis complex in the UK between 1993 and 1999. All were tested for sensitivity to isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol and 12 692 of the isolates were also tested for sensitivity to pyrazinamide and streptomycin. A total of 1523 (6.1%) isolates were resistant to one or more drugs, 1397 isolates (5.6%) were resistant to isoniazid with or without resistance to other drugs, and 299 (1.2%) were multidrug resistant. Although the numbers of drug resistant isolates increased over the period, the proportions remained little changed. Certain groups of people were at a higher risk of acquiring drug resistant tuberculosis including younger men, residents of London, foreign born subjects, patients with a previous history of tuberculosis and those infected with HIV. CONCLUSION: Although the proportion of drug resistant tuberculosis cases appears to be stable in the UK at present, more than one in 20 patients has drug resistant disease at diagnosis and more than one in 100 has multidrug resistant disease. Tuberculosis control measures should be strengthened to minimise the emergence of drug resistance through rapid diagnosis, rapid identification of drug resistance, supervised treatment, and maintenance of comprehensive surveillance.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2002

A national study of clinical and laboratory factors affecting the survival of patients with multiple drug resistant tuberculosis in the UK.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to describe the clinical, microbiological, molecular epidemiology and treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) cases in the UK and to determine factors associated with survival. METHODS: Ninety MDRTB cases were identified from 1 January 1996 to 30 June 1997; 69 were DNA fingerprinted. Date of diagnosis was determined and data were collated on key demographic factors, clinical, radiological and treatment details. Variables associated with survival were included in a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Most of the patients (72.4%) were male, born outside the UK (57.1%), were sputum smear positive (82.2%), and had entered the UK more than 5 years previously (61.9%). Thirty eight of 78 cases (48.7%) had prior TB. Sufficient data on 82 patients were available for survival analysis; 20/27 (74.1%) known to be dead at the end of the observation period had died of tuberculosis. Median survival time overall was 1379 days (95% CI 1336 to 2515) or 3.78 (95% CI 3.66 to 6.89) years (858 days (95% CI 530 to 2515) in immunocompromised individuals (n=32) and 1554 (95% CI 1336 to 2066) days in immunocompetent cases (n=48)). Median survival in patients treated with three drugs to which the bacterium was susceptible on in vitro testing (n=62) was 2066 days (95% CI 1336 to 2515) or 5.66 years, whereas in those not so treated (n=13) survival was 599 days (95% CI 190 to 969) or 1.64 years. CONCLUSIONS: Immunocompromised status, failure to culture the bacterium in 30 days or to apply appropriate three drug treatment, and age were significant factors in mortality. An immunocompromised patient was nearly nine times more likely to die, while application of appropriate treatment reduced the risk (risk ratio 0.06). Increasing age was associated with increasing risk of death (risk ratio 2.079; 95% CI 1.269 to 3.402)-that is, for every 10 year increase in age the risk almost doubled. Overall survival was lower than that reported in previous studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Isoniazid resistance, mycobacterial genotype and outcome in Vietnamese adults with tuberculous meningitis.

SETTING: Centre for Tropical Diseases, a 500-bed hospital for infectious diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. OBJECTIVE: The factors that determine outcome in adults with tuberculous meningitis are poorly understood. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between admission clinical features, HIV infection, drug resistance, mycobacterial genotype and outcome in adults with tuberculous meningitis. DESIGN: Clinical and laboratory data were recorded prospectively for 56 Vietnamese adults with tuberculous meningitis confirmed by culture of cerebrospinal fluid. Variables associated with in-hospital mortality, IV infection, drug resistance and microbial genotype were assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Admission coma score independently predicted death in hospital (OR 0.73, 95%CI 0.61-0.87, P = 0.001). HIV-infected adults with tuberculous meningitis were more likely to be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to isoniazid (P = 0.011) and streptomycin (P = 0.002). Isoniazid resistance, streptomycin resistance, HIV infection and microbial genotype were not associated with increased in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: Treatment of tuberculous meningitis before the onset of coma saves lives. Resistance to isoniazid and/or streptomycin does not appear to affect outcome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Tuberculosis at the end of the 20th century in England and Wales: results of a national survey in 1998.

BACKGROUND: A national survey of tuberculosis was conducted in England and Wales in 1998 to obtain detailed information on the occurrence of the disease and recent trends. This survey also piloted the methodology for enhanced tuberculosis surveillance in England and Wales and investigated the prevalence of HIV infection in adults with tuberculosis. METHODS: Clinical and demographic data for all cases diagnosed during 1998 were obtained, together with microbiological data where available. Annual incidence rates in the population were estimated by age, sex, ethnic group, and geographical region using denominators from the 1998 Labour Force Survey. Incidence rates in different subgroups of the population were compared with the rates observed in previous surveys. The tuberculosis survey database for 1998 was matched against the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre HIV/AIDS database to estimate the prevalence of HIV co-infection in adult patients with tuberculosis. RESULTS: A total of 5658 patients with tuberculosis were included in the survey in England and Wales (94% of all formally notified cases during the same period), giving an annual rate of 10.93 per 100 000 population (95% CI 10.87 to 10.99). This represented an increase of 11% in the number of cases since the survey in 1993 and 21% since 1988. In many regions case numbers have remained little changed since 1988, but in London an increase of 71% was observed. The number of children with tuberculosis has decreased by 10% since 1993. Annual rates of tuberculosis per 100 000 population have continued to decline among the white population (4.38) and those from the Indian subcontinent, although the rate for the latter has remained high at 121 per 100 000. Annual rates per 100 000 have increased in all other ethnic groups, especially among those of black African (210) and Chinese (77.3) origin. Over 50% of all patients were born outside the UK. Recent entrants to the UK had higher rates of the disease than those who had been in the country for more than 5 years or who had been born in the UK. An estimated 3.3% of all adults with tuberculosis were co-infected with HIV. CONCLUSIONS: The epidemiology of tuberculosis continues to change in England and Wales and the annual number of cases is rising. More than one third of cases now occur in young adults and rates are particularly high in those recently arrived from high prevalence areas of the world. The geographical distribution is uneven with urban centres having the highest rates. The increase in the number of cases in London is particularly large. Tuberculosis in patients co-infected with HIV makes a small but important contribution to the overall increase, particularly in London. To be most effective and to make the most efficient use of resources, tuberculosis prevention and control measures must be based on accurate and timely information on the occurrence of disease. A new system of continuous enhanced tuberculosis surveillance was introduced in 1999, based on the methodology developed in this national survey.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2000

Aetiology, outcome, and risk factors for mortality among adults with acute pneumonia in Kenya.

BACKGROUND: Despite a substantial disease burden, there is little descriptive epidemiology of acute pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa. We did this study to define the aetiology of acute pneumonia, to estimate mortality at convalescence, and to analyse mortality risk-factors. METHODS: We studied 281 Kenyan adults who presented to two public hospitals (one urban and one rural) with acute radiologically confirmed pneumonia during 1994-96. We did blood and lung-aspirate cultures, mycobacterial cultures, serotype-specific pneumococcal antigen detection, and serology for viral and atypical agents. FINDINGS: Aetiology was defined in 182 (65%) patients. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most common causative agent, being found in 129 (46%) cases; Mycobacterium tuberculosis was found in 26 (9%). Of 255 patients followed up for at least 3 weeks, 25 (10%) died at a median age of 33 years. In multivariate analyses, risk or protective factors for mortality were age (odds ratio 1.51 per decade [95% CI 1.04-2.19]), unemployment (4.42 [1.21-16.1]), visiting a traditional healer (5.26 [1.67-16.5]), visiting a pharmacy (0.30 [0.10-0.91]), heart rate (1.64 per 10 beats [1.24-2.16]), and herpes labialis (15.4 [2.22-107]). HIV-1 seropositivity, found in 52%, was not associated with mortality. Death or failure to recover after 3 weeks was more common in patients with pneumococci of intermediate resistance to benzylpenicillin, which comprised 28% of pneumococcal isolates, than in those infected with susceptible pneumococci (5.60 [1.33-23.6]). INTERPRETATION: We suggest that tuberculosis is a sufficiently common cause of acute pneumonia in Kenyan adults to justify routine sputum culture, and that treatment with benzylpenicillin remains appropriate for clinical failure due to M. tuberculosis, intermediate-resistant pneumococci, and other bacterial pathogens. However, interventions restricted to hospital management will fail to decrease mortality associated with socioeconomic, educational, and behavioural factors.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

Role of IS6110-targeted PCR, culture, biochemical, clinical, and immunological criteria for diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.

An open prospective clinical, microbiological, and molecular analysis of a national molecular diagnostic service for tuberculous meningitis (TBM) using an in-house IS6110-targeted PCR for molecular "Fastrack" diagnosis was carried out. Between April 1997 and June 1998. Consecutive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 131 patients were assessed. Against a culture on the same sample, PCR had a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 94%. Of samples from patients classified as definite or probable TBM cases based on clinical criteria, 81% had raised CSF protein levels and 73% had a lymphocytosis, although 57% of all submitted samples showed a raised lymphocyte count. While only 46% had a CSF glucose level below the normal range, the CSF glucose level was significantly lower (P = 0. 0281) than in cases of meningitis of other etiologies. Levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha were also found to be significantly raised in definite or probable TBM cases (P = 0.028), while adenosine deaminase levels were not. The study showed IS6110-targeted PCR to be a rapid, sensitive, and specific test in routine use for the diagnosis of TBM.

Adenosine Deaminase↗
PubMed2000

Trends in antituberculosis drug resistance in Karonga District, Malawi, 1986-1998.

SETTING: Karonga District, Malawi. OBJECTIVES: To examine long term trends in initial and acquired resistance to antituberculosis drugs in a rural area of Africa. DESIGN: Monitoring of all patients with culture-confirmed tuberculosis 1986-1998. RESULTS: Initial drug resistance results were available for 1121 patients. The proportion resistant to any of the first line drugs (streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin or ethambutol) was 9.6%, and to isoniazid 7.2%. Initial resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin (multidrug resistance) was seen in only six patients. No initial resistance to ethambutol was found. There was no significant change in initial drug resistance over time. Overall, 22/120 (18%) patients with previous treatment were resistant to at least one drug; only one had multidrug resistance. Acquired resistance decreased over the period of the study. There were no associations between age, sex or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status and initial or acquired drug resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in acquired resistance may reflect the recent performance of a control programme more quickly than those in initial resistance. It is encouraging that acquired resistance decreased and levels of multidrug resistance were low despite more than a decade of use of rifampicin. The lack of association between HIV and drug resistance confirms findings elsewhere in Africa.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Standardization of antituberculosis drug resistance surveillance in Europe. Recommendations of a World Health Organization (WHO) and International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) Working Group.

Surveillance of antituberculosis drug resistance is an essential tool for evaluating the quality of tuberculosis control programmes. Consensus-based recommendations on uniform reporting of antituberculosis drug resistance surveillance data in Europe have been developed by a Working Group of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD). Laboratories should use standardized methods for testing drug susceptibility with a quality assurance programme including national and international proficiency testing. The proportion of drug resistance, particularly resistance to isoniazid, rifampicin or both (multidrug resistance) among all definite, i.e. culture-positive, tuberculosis cases at the start of treatment is the major indicator of interest. It should be calculated separately among patients treated previously and among those who have never been treated with > or = 1 month of combined antituberculosis drugs. The Working Group recommends that, in countries in which resources allow, laboratories report drug susceptibility test results on all isolates of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Test results of the specimen at the start of treatment and clinical data from the notification should be linked using a suitable identifier. Results should be presented by calendar year and analysed by age, sex, place of birth, site of disease and sputum smear results. In countries in which a routine system cannot be organized, representative surveys or sentinel systems are possible alternatives. In some countries, the annual prevalence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis may be estimated through a national laboratory reporting system.

Antitubercular Agents↗