title: High prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis mixed infection in the capital of moderate tuberculosis incidence country.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent studies using molecular epidemiological techniques have demonstrated mixed infection with multiple strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis especially in countries with high tuberculosis (TB) burden. We aimed to determine the prevalence of mixed infection among patients with TB in the capital of Iran as a country with moderate incidence rate.
  
  
  METHODS
  Samples were collected randomly from January 2011 to December 2013 in Tehran, capital of Iran. A total of 75 M. tuberculosis isolates were genotyped by 24 loci mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat typing (MIRU-VNTR) for screening the mixed infection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty patients (20/75) were identified with mixed infection, and the estimated rate of mixed infection was 26.6%. Thirteen out of the 24 loci were able to detect the mixed infection in our study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mixed infections occur at high prevalence among studied Iranian TB patients. Further research is inevitable to evaluate the association of mixed infection and disease progression and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Department of Microbiology, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Elahe Sadat
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Hajimiri
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Department of Microbiology, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran.
authors.forename: Morteza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masoomi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nayereh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ebrahimzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Microbiology Research Center (MRC), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abolfazl
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fateh
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hadizadeh Tasbiti
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Microbiology Research Center (MRC), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rahimi Jamnani
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Bahrmand
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirsaeidi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Microbiology Research Center (MRC), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: farzam_vaziri@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Farzam
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vaziri
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Microbiology Research Center (MRC), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Davar
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Siadat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: 24 loci MIRU-VNTR; Mixed infection; Mycobacterium tuberculosis