Rebecca Karimu Mtambo
Zonal Tuberculosis Quality Management Officer, Malawi
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Clin Respir Dis Care
Drug-resistant TB has a major impact on health outcomes and costs in high-burden countries and is expected to increase over the next decades. Linezolid, the prototype Oxazolidinone, improved outcomes of drugresistant TB in clinical trials. An individual patient data meta-analysis showed that linezolid use increased odds of treatment success 3-fold with a significantly lower mortality. Based on that data, WHO recommended linezolid as a preferred agent for all patients with drug-resistant TB in 2018. Literature suggests that Linezolid can cause severe ADRs which affect patient compliance and hinder in therapy to a larger extent. Recent studies confirm the possibility of ADRs to be predicted with genetic make-up of individuals. Studies done in African countries has shown that linezolid has a lot of adverse effects. We retrospectively studied all patients with confirmed MDR TB who had received the dosage of linezolid during January –December 2019 to January- December 2020 and had been followed up for 24 months. We monitored the adverse events using a technique whereby physicians and clinicians performed daily neurologic and ophthalmologic examinations of hospitalised patients at Bwaila hospital, Lilongwe, and monthly examination of out-patients. Neurologic adverse effects included motor and sensory deficits, tendon reflex abnormalities, and pallesthesia. The possibility of experiencing side effects was linked to the dosage and duration of treatment, mainly when used for more than 12 weeks. Therefore, it requires monthly complete blood count monitoring and discontinuation when myelos+uppression or neuropathy is suspected.The main ocular side effect linked to linezolid use was optic neuropathy, Anaemia and Peripheral neuropathy.
Dr. Rebecca Karimu Mtambo has her expertise in evaluation and passion in improving the health and wellbeing among TB Patients. She is the National DRTB Mentor in Malawi, she has championed treating patients on Linezolid based regimen for the drug resistance Tuberculosis. She is also IPC WASH trainer and supervisor, she is a TB /HIV supervisor. Her open and contextual evaluation model based on responsive constructivists creates new pathways for improving healthcare. Rebecca is currently working at Ministry of Health Malawi ,Quality Management Direcorate Central West Satellite. She is the desk Officer for the TB & Leprosy Elimination Programme under supervision from the National TB Control Programme. Her Co duties include coordinating IPC/WASH and Hospital Ombuldsman in the satellite Office under supervision of Quality Management Directorate. She has passion in the field of research and publication. She is a quality Management Officer.
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