Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a serious threat in industrialized countries, but information from Southern Italy is lacking. Here, we present the results of a retrospective study of TB cases diagnosed in 2008-2013 in Naples, the largest city in Southern Italy.
Methods: Six hundred ninety Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains were isolated at the Ospedali dei Colli of Naples, and resistance to first-line and second-line drugs was determined.
Results: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB increased from 2008 to 2013, with 77.4% of strains isolated from migrants from 41 countries. Overall, 4.5% of strains were MDR: Italian-born persons, 2.2%; Romania, 7.5%; Former Soviet Union countries (Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Georgia), 22.4%; all other foreign countries, 2.0%. Resistance of MDR strains to second-line drugs was high against kanamycin, ofloxacin, capreomycin.
Conclusions: MDR-TB in Naples increased in 2008-13 and was observed predominantly in migrants, indicating the need to intensify diagnosis and treatment of these populations in this town.