title: [Presence of Bejing genotype among Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in two centres of the Region Metropolitana of Chile].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (cMtb) allows us to know geographically predominant lineages. Some lineages spread more rapidly and are associated with multidrug resistance, particularly Beijing, which has been reported in Latin America (Peru). There is little information about this topic in Chile and there are no reports of the presence of the Beijing genotype.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the most prevalent lineages in the Metropolitan Region of Chile with emphasis on the search for Beijing in two health centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two complementary molecular methods were used: spoligotyping, based on the variations of the direct repeat regions in the genome of cMtb and MIRU-VNTR, based in the variable number of tandem repeats of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units, and subsequent analysis in international databases. A designed lineage was assigned to 37 of the 43 strains studied (86%); 6 isolates could not be assigned to any genotype. LAM and T genotype were the most frequent (39.5 and 32.5%, respectively) followed by Haarlem (7.0%), Beijing (4.7%) and X (2.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We describe for the first time the presence of the Beijing genotype in Chile. cMtb molecular surveillance should be implemented in our country in order to know the dynamics of its transmission.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meza
authors.forename: M Elvira
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Balcells
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cifuentes
authors.forename: Aniela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wozniak
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: García
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002677:Chile; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D058889:Molecular Typing; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013045:Species Specificity; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D014505:Urban Population