Using routinely collected laboratory data to identify high rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis burden communities in the Western Cape Province South Africa: A retrospective spatiotemporal analysis

摘要

BackgroundSouth Africa has the highest tuberculosis incidence globally (781/100,000), with an estimated 4.3% of cases being rifampicin resistant (RR). Control and elimination strategies will require detailed spatial information to understand where drug-resistant tuberculosis exists and why it persists in those communities. We demonstrate a method to enable drug-resistant tuberculosis monitoring by identifying high-burden communities in the Western Cape Province using routinely collected laboratory data.