The Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Drug Resistance Profiles of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in China: A Mini-Review

Mycobacterial infections are a group of infectious diseases caused by bacterial pathogens in the genus Mycobacterium, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) complex, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), and Mycobacterium leprae. Tuberculosis caused by M. tuberculosis has become the leading cause of death of a single infectious disease after novel coronavirus pneumonia. Over 90% of the pathogenic bacteria of human pulmonary tuberculosis are caused by MTB. The main transmission routes of MTB are airborne droplets and person-to-person contact, and it is easy to form an explosive epidemic due to its high contagion. Although the detection capacity of MTB in clinical laboratories has been dramatically improved, multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an essential cause of tuberculosis treatment failure. It is attributed to the long treatment cycle and high health care costs, resulting in a substantial social and economic burden. China has been one of the highest burden countries with MDR-TB infections in the world. Therefore, the up-to-date data about the prevalence, risk factors, and antibiotic resistance profiles of MTB in China is of great significance for the effective control of the highly contagious bacterial pathogen in the country. In this mini-review, we went through the latest literature about the current infection rates, common risk factors for the infection, and the profiles of MTB resistance to common antibiotics, aiming to provide an overview of MTB infection in China and facilitate the control and eradication of the bacterial pathogen in the near future.