First insight into Mycobacterium tuberculosis epidemiology and genetic diversity in Trinidad and Tobago.

Shirematee Baboolal (1, 2) , Julie Millet (3) , Patrick Eberechi Akpaka (2) , Dottin Ramoutar (4) , Nalin Rastogi (3)

1 Caribbean Epidemiology Centre
2 Department of Para-Clinical Sciences
3 Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe
4 Caura Chest Hospital

This report is based on a 1-year recruitment of all of the culture-positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis cases in Trinidad and Tobago (n = 132). The study population was characterized by a high male-to-female sex ratio of 4 and a human immunodeficiency virus-tuberculosis (TB) coinfection rate of 30%. It mainly occurred among African descendants, who represent 37.5% of the total population but 69.7% of all TB cases (P < 0.001). Spoligotyping resulted in 25 different patterns and 12 clusters (2 to 74 strains per cluster), with the predominance of a highly conserved spoligotype international type clone, SIT566.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology

Shirematee Baboolal, Julie Millet, Patrick Eberechi Akpaka, Dottin Ramoutar, Nalin Rastogi. First insight into Mycobacterium tuberculosis epidemiology and genetic diversity in Trinidad and Tobago.. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2009, 47 (6), pp.1911-4. ⟨10.1128/JCM.00535-09⟩. ⟨pasteur-00694592⟩