Occurrence rate of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients attending chest clinics in selected hospitals in Akure metropolis

Background: The increase in incidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and emergence of drug resistant strains of MTB is a serious issue especially in developing communities. The aim of this study is to investigate occurrence rate of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients attending chest clinics in selected hospitals in Akure metropolis Ondo State, Nigeria. Methods: A total of five hundred (500) sputum samples were collected from patients attending selected chest clinics in Akure metropolis and a specially designed questionnaire was used to collect the socio-demographic data of the individuals recruited for the study. The collected sputum samples were analyzed using GeneXpert machine (Cepheid, Model GX-IV) to detect MTB rifampicin resistance. Results: 51(10.2 %) of the 500 patients screened were positive for MTB while 8(15.7 %) of the MTB positive patients had rifampicin-resistant MTB. The occurrence of rifampicin-resistant MTB was higher in males (23.8 %) than in females (10.0 %). It was also higher among the age range of 20-31 years with percentage of (33.3 %) and higher among singles (87.5 %) than the married (2.3 %). Rifampicin-resistant MTB was higher among the illiterate (20 %). Conclusion: It is imperative that the health policy makers and government should increase the awareness campaign on tuberculosis prevention and also encourage more studies for the development of novel and more effective tuberculosis’ drugs by financing the project.