TB continued? Antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis discovered in Europe
Researchers have detected a tuberculosis strain in Russia and other parts of Europe that can resist several of the disease’s most important medicines. These infections may be harder to cure, although scientists found no evidence that the strain spreads faster.
Researchers at Dublin City University and Trinity College Dublin analysed the genetic records of 1,362 tuberculosis samples. Their peer-reviewed study, published on 5 September, identified an internationally dispersed family of closely related bacteria named EurA1.
Of the samples with location data, 308 were from Belarus, 166 from Germany, 162 from Ukraine, 112 from Georgia and 62 from Russia. Records from 31 countries turned up the wider EurA1 family.
What scientists found in Russia and Europe
Researchers found a particularly resistant branch of that family, named EurA1.1. In 228 of its 387 samples, researchers found genetic evidence of pre-extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. That means the bacteria could be resistant to the two most important first-line treatments and at least one big class of back-up medication.
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Samples belonging to this branch were detected in Russia, Belarus, Germany, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Russian specimens were also genetically close to samples from several neighbouring countries, suggesting that the strain has crossed national borders.
Why drug resistance matters
The study also revealed early resistance to bedaquiline and linezolid, two difficult-case medications. Out of 1,080 EurA1 samples, 23 had bedaquiline resistance markers and five had linezolid resistance.
Results are severely limited. Results are severely limited. Genetic markers predicted drug resistance, not lab drug testing for every sample. Since it was compiled from studies in different countries and times, the database cannot estimate strain prevalence.
The warning nevertheless comes from a region already struggling with resistant tuberculosis. The World Health Organisation estimates that multidrug-resistant infections account for 23% of new tuberculosis cases in its European region, which includes Central Asia, compared with 3.2% worldwide.
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