A Quantitative Evaluation of MIRU-VNTR Typing Against Whole-Genome Sequencing for Identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis Transmission: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study

Abstract excerpt

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit-Variable Number Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing is widely used in high-income countries to determine Mycobacterium tuberculosis relatedness. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is known to deliver greater specificity, but no quantitative prospective comparison has yet been undertaken. METHODS: We studied isolates from the English Midlands, sampled consecutively...