Population-level frequency of fluoroquinolone resistance by whole-genome sequencing drug predictions in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates in England from 2017-2023

Abstract

Fluoroquinolones are an important component of anti-tuberculosis treatment and identifying fluoroquinolone resistance is essential. We present the first survey of fluoroquinolone resistance in England from sequencing of over 16,000 unselected isolates. Fluoroquinolone resistance was 1.4% overall and 23.9% in multidrug-resistant TB. Routine sequencing allows resistance surveillance and should be widely adopted.