Effect of delamanid on interim outcomes of bacteriological conversion amongst pediatric drug resistant tuberculosis cases in India

Aim: To determine the bacteriological conversion rate after 6 months of Delamanid (DLM) based treatment in children with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and determine factors associated with bacteriological conversion.Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective study done in children between the age of 6-17 years with DR-TB who received DLM-based therapy from October 2018 to May 2021. The drug resistance pattern of TB was detected using Xpert RIF/MTB and phenotypic drug sensitivity testing (DST) on TB-MGIT culture reports. Follow-up sputum TB MGIT culture was carried out monthly after DLM initiation for 6 months. Factors associated with sputum bacteriological conversion such as age, gender, pulmonary TB (PTB) versus disseminated TB, unilateral or bilateral lung involvement, type of DR-TB, prior treatment failure, and type of DR-TB regimen were analyzed.Results: Sixty patients received DLM of which two had extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) and sputum conversion could not be assessed. The mean age at presentation was 12.69 +/- 3.03 years. Five patients (8.3%) died while on DLM treatment. On follow-up, 8 (13.7%) out of 58 patients had no sputum bacteriological conversion after 6 months of DLM initiation of which three patients were on salvage therapy; 46 (79.3%) had sputum bacteriological conversion within 6 months of DLM initiation.Conclusion: Sputum bacteriological conversion rate was almost 80% at the end of 6 months of DLM-based treatment.