Hospital control and multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis in female patients, Lima, Peru.
We examined the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB), rate of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB, and characteristics of TB on a female general medicine ward in Peru. Of 250 patients, 40 (16%) were positive by sputum culture and 27 (11%) by smear, and 8 (3%) had MDRTB. Thirteen (33%) of 40 culture-positive patients had not been suspected of having TB on admission. Six (46%) of 13 patients whose TB was unsuspected on admission had MDRTB, compared with 2 (7%) of 27 suspected cases (p = 0.009). Five (63%) of 8 MDRTB patients were smear positive and therefore highly infective. In developing countries, hospital control, a simple method of reducing the spread of MDRTB, is neglected.
University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
F F
FF
Willingham
T L
TL
Schmitz
M
M
Contreras
S E
SE
Kalangi
A M
AM
Vivar
L
L
Caviedes
E
E
Schiantarelli
P M
PM
Neumann
C
C
Bern
R H
RH
Gilman
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010568:Peru / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control