E Cambau, P Saunderson, M Matsuoka, S T Cole, M Kai, P Suffys, P S Rosa, D Williams, U D Gupta, M Lavania, N Cardona-Castro, Y Miyamoto, D Hagge, A Srikantam, W Hongseng, A Indropo, V Vissa, R C Johnson, B Cauchoix, V K Pannikar, E A W D Cooreman, V R R Pemmaraju, L Gillini
OBJECTIVES: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a priority for surveillance in bacterial infections. For leprosy, AMR has not been assessed because Mycobacterium leprae does not grow in vitro. We aim to obtain AMR data using molecular detection of resistance genes and to conduct a prospective open survey of resistance to antileprosy drugs in countries where leprosy is endemic through a WHO surveillance network. METHODS: From 2009 to 2015, multi-bacillary leprosy cases at sentinel sites of 19 countries were studied for resistance to rifampicin, dapsone and ofloxacin by PCR sequencing of the drug-resistance-determining regions of the genes rpoB, folP1 and gyrA...
March 1, 2018: Clinical Microbiology and Infection