Epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis-HIV co-infection and genotypic strains of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in four departments at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Référence Nationale in N'Djamena, Chad.

INTRODUCTION

the comorbidity of infectious diseases is a real public health challenge in Chad. The main objective of this study is to determine the prevalence rate of HIV/TB co-infection among patients of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Référence Nationale (CHU-RN), as well as the frequency of circulating Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBc) genotypic strains within the institution.

METHODS

a cross-sectional analytical and prospective study was conducted from January to November 2024 in four departments of the CHU-RN in N'Djamena. Patient samples were collected, decontaminated, and analyzed using techniques such as the GeneXpert MTB/RIF test, MGIT culture, and spoligotyping.

RESULTS

one hundred and fifty-six (156) patients were included, with a majority of men at 65% and an average age of 38.28 years. Approximately 69.2% of the samples were positive for MTBc and the TB/HIV co-infection rate was 7.4%. The MTBc Cameroon strain was the most represented, with 43%, followed by the CAS-Delhi strain at 29%. Among the strains found at the CHU-RN, two lineages were revealed: L3 and L4. Rifampicin resistance of MTBc was 13%.

CONCLUSION

the identification of MTBc genotypic strains shows high genetic diversity with a predominance of certain strains involved in co-infection with HIV at the CHU-RN. Targeted intervention is necessary to control the transmission of tuberculosis.