To the Editor: Mycobacteriumtuberculosis (MTB) Beijing genotypeis spread throughout the world, andthe highest prevalence has beendetected in Asia and Eurasia. In west-ern Europe, the prevalence of Beijingstrains is relatively low (1–3), andcases in immigrants with Beijingstrains are mainly Asian in origin. In Spain, the last few years havebeen a key period for infectious dis-eases because of the sharp increase inthe immigrant population. The per-centage of tuberculosis (TB) cases inimmigrants in our area has increasedfrom 6.7% (75/1,123) in 1997–1999to 29.4% in 2002–2003 (184/625).Our study had 2 aims: 1) to determinethe prevalence of Beijing strains inMadrid and thus establish a referencefor this genetic family before theimpact of nonnative TB cases is expe-rienced, and 2) to check whether thegeneral parameters found for Beijingstrains in Europe are valid for Spainor whether specific features can beidentified
展开▼
