This study aimed to investigate differences in the antimicrobial susceptibility of members of the Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC): subsp. massiliense and subsp. abscessus, and to identify associations between strain genotypes and antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. A total of 383 clinical MABC isolates (subsp. abscessus: n = 218, 56.9%; subsp. massiliense: n = 163, 42.6%; subsp. bolletii: n = 2, 0.5%) were characterised using multilocus variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing and drug susceptibility testing. Most isolates exhibited susceptibility to amikacin, clarithromycin and azithromycin but resistance to cefoxitin and minocycline was statistically more associated with isolates unclustered by VNTR type. The Simpson's diversity indexes of VNTR typing for M. abscessus and M. massiliense isolates were 0.999 and 0.997, respectively. Genotyping of M. abscessus and M. massiliense isolates by VNTR may provide valuable information for predicting resistance phenotype.

The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term survival and risk factors associated with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patient survival in Central China. Between December 2006 and June 2011, incident and retreatment adult MDR-TB patients were enrolled in the present study. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors affecting survival. The total follow-up period was 270 person-years (PY) for 356 MDR-TB cases in Wuhan. Of the 356 cases, 103 patients died, yielding an average case fatality rate of 381.2 per 1000 TB patients per year. Using adjusted Cox regression analysis, older age (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) >3.0 starting from 30 years) and low education level (primary and middle school; aHR 1.67 (95% CI 1.01–2.77)) were independently associated with lower survival. Diabetes mellitus profoundly affected the survival of MDR-TB patients (aHR 1.95 (95% CI 1.30–2.93)). Our data demonstrate that coexistent diabetes significantly and negatively impacted MDR-TB patient survival. In addition, MDR-TB patients aged 60 years or older exhibited a greater risk of mortality during follow-up. Our findings emphasise that MDR-TB patients with comorbidities that increase their risk of death require additional medical interventions to reduce mortality.