Abstract
Introduction: In 2013, 34.7% and 49.7% of new and previously treated tuberculosis (TB) patients, respectively, were diagnosed with drug-resistant (DR) TB in Azerbaijan prisons. Although the co-infection with HCV is frequent among prisoners, the conclusions on its influence to the DR-TB treatment results are contradictory. Aims: To compare the treatment outcome of the DR-TB patients with and without HCV co-infection in the prison setting with low proportion of patients, who are lost to follow-up. Methods: All patients with DR-TB, who started treatment with second-line anti-TB drugs during the period 2007-2013, were included. The individualized treatment regimens in line with the WHO were used. The variables assessed were: treatment outcome, age, BMI, diabetes mellitus, HIV, case categories and drug susceptibility testing (DST) results. Treatment success was defined as a sum of cure and treatment completed. Logistic regression was done to assess the impact of the HCV infection to the treatment outcome of DR-TB patients. Results: A total of 561 patients were enrolled to the study, of them 62.4% (350) with HCV co-infection. There was no statistically significant difference in treatment outcome among the HCV and non-HCV infected DR-TB patients. Conclusions: The HCV co-infection had no impact on the treatment outcome of the patients with DR-TB in Azerbaijan prisons.
Published Version
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