Whole genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for detection of recent transmission and tracing outbreaks: A systematic review

摘要

Contact tracing complemented with genotyping is considered an important means of understanding person-to-person transmission of tuberculosis (TB). It still remains unclear whether Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis can rule in transmission and how it performs in different human populations, risk groups and across TB lineages. This systematic review aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of WGS for detection of recent transmission using conventional epidemiology as the gold standard and investigate if WGS identifies previously undetected transmission events.