What About Existing Databases?

Abstract

We agree that research into and treatment optimization of multidrug resistant tuberculosis can be successfully undertaken only by way of a joint effort. We were surprised that the review article did not mention representative data collections of patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB in Germany. From 2004 to 2006, the Tuberculosis Network European Trials-group (TBNET) systematically collected data from patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB in 27 hospitals and evaluated the therapeutic successes (1). TBNET is a European alliance of doctors in clinical practice as well as scientists; the group’s remit is TB research. The network receives funding from the European Union and is closely linked to the European Respiratory Society. In a study of 4557 TB patients, 177 patients were found to have MDR-TB and 7, XDR-TB. This amounts to two thirds of all patients known to have MDR-TB or XDR-TB in Germany. The mean inpatient stay for XDR-TB is 202 days, and for MDR-TB, 123 days. The expensive inpatient care, comprehensive testing for antibiotic resistance, and the availability of all required medications have yielded excellent treatment results in 89% or 80% of the cases that were subsequently documented. In 2010, TBNET has established a database to capture MDR-TB and XDR-TB in Europe, with the aim to provide a comprehensive prospective and retrospective analysis of MDR-TB and XDR-TB. We are asking our colleagues who treat patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB to join in the concerted effort and participate in the database project, so as to make a contribution to research into this intractable disease (information at www.tb-net.org or from gguenther@fz-borstel.de).