Characterization of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Brazil, 2014

Objective to describe drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) notifications in Brazil. Methods this is a descriptive study of clinical and epidemiological characteristics of DR-TB notifications in 2014 on SITETB and TBWeb, these being information systems on which cases involving special treatment regimens are registered. Results there were 1,574 cases, 94.8% of which had the pulmonary form, 27.6% involved primary resistance, and 50.9% were multidrug-resistant; 70.6% of cases were male, 87.0% were between 20 and 59 years old, 60.9% were of Afro-Brazilian, and 68.0% had less than 8 years of schooling; as for comorbidities, 13.1% of patients had AIDS, 11.3% had diabetes, 25.8% made harmful use of alcohol, 21.0% were illegal drugs users, and 22.2% were tobacco users. Conclusion the majority of DR-TB notifications were related to men, young people, Afro-Brazilian and people with low levels of education; there was a high percentage of primary resistance, as well as multidrug-resistance and comorbidities, with emphasis on substance use.