DETECTION METHOD OF AIRBORNE MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEX DNA IN ENVIRONMENT

摘要

The incidence of tuberculosis among homeless people is 10 to 50 times higher than in the general population. To evaluate airborne environmental Mycobacterium tuberculosis in risk indoor areas, a non-invasive useful method was developed to study the spread of Mycobacterium tuberculosis particles in bioaerosols expelled from human respiratory tract. A semi-quantitative approach, based on a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), was coupled with air sampling methods. The modified PCR method described allows to detect less than 95 CFU/m~3 in impinger air samples and less than 140 colony forming unit (CFU)/cm~2 in sedimentation samples. As an "in use" example, environmental samples were collected during one month in bus carrying homeless people, but Mycobacterium tuberculosis was not detected in collected samples, probably because the method was tested with a slight number of people.