Prevalence of Genital Tuberculosis in Infertile Women; a Study from a Tertiary Care Center in North India

Introduction: Female genitourinary tuberculosis (FGTB) is an important cause of infertility in women of reproductive age group. The disease remains undetected due to its asymptomatic nature and lack of sensitive tests. This study was conducted with the aim of detecting the prevalence of genital tuberculosis in infertile women. Material and methods: Endometrial curetting of 193 infertile women suspected of genital tuberculosis were taken laparoscopically and sent for histopathological examination, ZN staining, culture on LJ media and GeneXpert testing. Results: Out of 193 women, 13 were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis making the overall prevalence of FGTB in infertile women to the extent of 6.73%. Of these 11 presented with primary infertility while 2 patients presented with secondary infertility. The histopathological examination of all the samples was non-specific. No case of positive acid fast bacilli on ZN staining was observed. Comparison of culture and GeneXpert revealed that Xpert assay was more sensitive in detecting the positive cases. Conclusion: Our study concluded that FGTB is common in our population and women presenting with infertility should be evaluated for genital tuberculosis. A high degree of suspicion and combination of histopathological and microbiological tests are important methods for the detection of genital tuberculosis

Evaluation of cepheid GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay for Mycobacterium tuberculosis detection and rifampicin resistance in clinical specimen

Background: Timely diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis is important to treat the disease and to reduce transmission. The WHO recommends using GeneXpert MTB in developing, high-burden countries.  A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of Xpert assay for the detection of M. tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in clinical specimen.Methods: About 615 consecutive samples were simultaneously subjected to culture and phenotypic drug susceptibility test for M. tuberculosis and analysis by GeneXpert assay. Confirmed Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a positive culture was used as a reference standard for TB diagnosis.Results: The assay achieved a sensitivity of 96.75% (268/277) and 76.47% (26/34) for smear positive and smear negative pulmonary specimen respectively. In extrapulmonary specimen, the sensitivity was 50% (1/2) and 42.8% (3/7) for smear positive and smear negative specimen respectively. An additional 48 M. tuberculosis were detected by Xpert assay which were smear and culture negative. The Xpert assay identified 100% of the phenotypic rifampicin susceptible isolates and 74.19% of the phenotypic rifampicin resistant isolates. Discordant results were seen in 8 (2.76%) isolates. 6 of these isolates were confirmed to be rifampicin resistant by the reference lab.Conclusions: Present study indicates that Xpert MTB/RIF assay is an effective and rapid tool for the rapid diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The sensitivity is comparable to culture in smear positive specimen but less sensitive than culture for smear negative specimen. In cases with high index of suspicion or discordance for rifampicin results, confirmation should be done by other methods due to false negative results on Xpert assay.

NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo beta lactamase-1) producing Gram-negative bacilli: Emergence & clinical implications.

Backgound & objectives: resistance to carbapenems in Gram-negative bacteria conferred by NDM-1 is a global health problem. We investigated the occurrence of NDM-1 in clinical isolates of gram-negative bacilli in a tertiary care hospital in Kashmir valley, India. Methods: Gram-negative bacilli from different clinical isolates were included in the study. Antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method and interpreted using Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Isolates resistant to carbapenems were subjected to different phenotypic test such as modified hodge test (MHT), boronic acid and oxacillin based MHT (bA-MHT and OXA-MHT), combined disk test and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) with imipenem and imipenem -EDTA for determination of class B metallo enzymes. Presence of blaNDM-1 gene was established by PCR and confirmed by sequencing. Results: Of the total 1625 gram-negative isolates received, 100 were resistant to imipenem. Of the 100 isolates, 55 (55%) were positive by modified Hodge test indicating carbapenemase production. Of the 100 isolates tested by MHT, BA-MHT and OXA-MHT, 29 (29%) isolates belonged to Class A and 15 (15%) to Class B, while 56 (56%) isolates were negative. Of the 15 class B metallo beta lactamase producers, nine carried the blaNDM-1 gene. NDM-1 was found among escherichia coli (2 isolates), Klebsiella pneumoniae (2 isolates), Citrobacter freundii (3 isolates), Acinetobacter spp (1 isolate), and one isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Isolates were resistant to all antibiotic tested except polymyxin B and tigecycline. Interpretation & conclusions: Our study showed the presence of clinical isolates expressing NDM-1 in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. These isolates harbour plasmid mediated multiple drug resistant determinants and can disseminate easily across several unrelated genera. To halt their spread, early identification of these isolates is mandatory.