Trends in drug-resistant tuberculosis in China: data from a clinical tuberculosis centre

OBJECTIVE: To describe the trends in prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) among in-patients in Beijing Chest Hospital, Beijing, China, using a 10-year retrospective study. DESIGN: From 2005 to 2014, 18 310 in-patients with TB were recruited for the study, most of whom were referrals; no distinction was made between new and previously treated cases. Drug susceptibility testing (DST) was performed in culture-positive cases using the proportion method to determine multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). Risk factors associated with drug resistance were identified. RESULTS: A total of 5141 (28.0%) samples were culture-positive. DST results showed that 860 (16.7%) cases were MDR-TB and 176 (3.4%) were XDR-TB. MDR-TB and XDR-TB were detected in respectively 21.2% and 12.5% of new cases. The rate of MDR-TB and XDR-TB gradually increased from 2005, with MDR-TB reaching a peak in 2008 and XDR-TB in 2009. These data closely mirror national survey data on this region, patient age and occupation. CONCLUSION: Trends in MDR-TB and XDR-TB prevalence during the past decade and their inflection points were determined, which complemented reports from previous national surveys. This information is useful for fighting TB in China.