Epidemiological analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from patients of small communities living in the South-East of Poland

The diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates, collected from a single hospital, was analyzed by ligation-mediated PCR techniques: FLiP and FLAP, and hybridization technique, IS6110-RFLP. The isolated strains were divided in terms of location (3 towns of Podkarpackie voivodeship differing in population size) and relationship (8 members of 4 families, each represented by 2 patients). Within each family identical DNA profiles, as well as drug resistance patterns were identified indicating a great chance of transmission of strains within the same family. Identical, or very similar patterns were also shared by strains isolated from unrelated patients living in a very small town (1 200 inhabitants) or hospitalized in the same place and time.