Author/Authors :
Song, Seung-Eun Division of Bacterial Disease - Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Osong-eup - Cheongju-si, Republic of Korea , Kim, Dong Hyeok Division of Bacterial Disease - Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Osong-eup - Cheongju-si, Republic of Korea , Kim, Seong-Han Division of Bacterial Disease Research - Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Osong-eup - Cheongju-si, Republic of Korea , Park, Mi-Sun Sejong Institute of Health and Environment - Jochiwon-eup, Sejong-si, Republic of Korea , Park, Sang-Hee Clinical Research Center - Masan National Tuberculosis Hospital, Republic of Korea , Lee, Kil-Soo Division of Bacterial Disease Research - Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Osong-eup - Cheongju-si, Republic of Korea
Abstract :
Tuberculosis (TB) is an ongoing global health problem, including in South Korea. To manage TB efficiently, it is necessary to understand the epidemiology, transmission route, and characteristics of prevailing Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. In this study, we investigated microevolutions over time in the spoligotype patterns of M. tuberculosis isolated from TB patients in Korea. We collected 1,055 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates from 16 provinces in Korea from 1994 to 2006 and analyzed them by spoligotyping. We observed 26 subfamilies, including two large predominant families: a Beijing family (72.7%) and the T family (19.1%). Specifically, the abundance of spoligotype SIT269 from the Beijing-like subfamily significantly increased in the 2000s relative to the 1990s in Korea. This study provides an overview of the M. tuberculosis genotype trends over time in Korea. These data also indicate that we should consider the influence of the newly growing SIT269 subtype identified in the Beijing family.
