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Deutsches Ärzteblatt International logoLink to Deutsches Ärzteblatt International
letter
. 2010 Jun 18;107(24):435–436. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2010.0435c

Correspondence (letter to the editor): What About Existing Databases?

Christian Herzmann *, Gunar Günther *, Barbara Eker *, Christoph Lange *, Giovanni Battista Migliori **
PMCID: PMC2897003  PMID: 20607088

We agree that research into and treatment optimization of multidrug resistant tuberculosis can be successfully undertaken only by way of a joint effort.

We were surprised that the review article did not mention representative data collections of patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB in Germany. From 2004 to 2006, the Tuberculosis Network European Trials-group (TBNET) systematically collected data from patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB in 27 hospitals and evaluated the therapeutic successes (1). TBNET is a European alliance of doctors in clinical practice as well as scientists; the group’s remit is TB research. The network receives funding from the European Union and is closely linked to the European Respiratory Society. In a study of 4557 TB patients, 177 patients were found to have MDR-TB and 7, XDR-TB. This amounts to two thirds of all patients known to have MDR-TB or XDR-TB in Germany. The mean inpatient stay for XDR-TB is 202 days, and for MDR-TB, 123 days. The expensive inpatient care, comprehensive testing for antibiotic resistance, and the availability of all required medications have yielded excellent treatment results in 89% or 80% of the cases that were subsequently documented. In 2010, TBNET has established a database to capture MDR-TB and XDR-TB in Europe, with the aim to provide a comprehensive prospective and retrospective analysis of MDR-TB and XDR-TB. We are asking our colleagues who treat patients with MDR-TB and XDR-TB to join in the concerted effort and participate in the database project, so as to make a contribution to research into this intractable disease (information at www.tb-net.org or from gguenther@fz-borstel.de).

References

  • 1.Eker B, Ortmann J, Migliori GB, et al. Multi-drug resistant and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, Germany. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14(11):1700–1706. doi: 10.3201/eid1411.080729. for the TBNET. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Loddenkemper R, Hauer B. Drug resistant tuberculosis—A worldwide epidemic poses a new challenge [Resistente Tuberkulose - Große Herausforderung durch eine Weltepidemie] Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2010;107(1-2):10–19. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2010.0010. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Deutsches Ärzteblatt International are provided here courtesy of Deutscher Arzte-Verlag GmbH

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