Molecular Epidemiology of Tuberculosis among Prisoners

Overview

The subject of the investigation is a group of 27 strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated in2000 fromprisoners with the diagnosis of tuberculosis, 19 Czechs and 8 foreigners (mean age 41 and35 years resp.). The molecular-epidemiological examination of these strains was made using theRFLP fingerprint technique (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) with evidence of theinsertive sequence IS6110 and the technique of spoligotyping, based on detection of hybridizationof spacer oligonucleotides. DNA fingerprinting revealed a high polymorphism in the number andmolecular weight of sequence IS6110 which is common in Czech and other European strains of M.tuberculosis. All strains with the exception of two had mutually different fingerprint profiles. In thetwo with identical fingerprints probably a duplicit examination of the same material was involvedwhich occurred by mistake during transport or in the laboratory. The fingerprint method thus didnot prove interhuman transmission of tuberculosis between the examined prisoners. The techniqueof spoligotyping revealed the finding of genotype Beijing M. tuberculosis in two sick prisoners, oneAlgerian and one Albanese, and in one Czech prisoner. This genotype found in a high percentage ofpatients in southeastern Asia and in migrants from this area was detected for the first time in theCzech Republic.The findings are evidence of a satisfactory standard of the programme of tuberculosis control in theCzech prison system and at the same time draw attention to the potential possibility of the spreadof tuberculosis from migrants coming from areas with a high prevalence.

Key words:
DNA – fingerprinting – tuberculosis in prisoners.