Rapid speciation of mycobacteria with simultaneous detection of MDR tB

Background Multidrug resistance (MDR) TB is on the rise globally and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Conventional culture based drug susceptibility testing (DST) for TB drugs is time consuming, leading to diagnostic delays contributing to higher TB morbidity and mortality and exacerbation of ongoing transmission. Moreover most of the NTM(Non tuberculous mycobacteria) that are resistant to common anti tB drugs, can be falsely labeled as MDR tB if not identified correctly. This study was aimed to identify Mycobacterium species and to determine the prevalence of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR tB) by line probe assay.