Transmitted resistance in the form of major drug resistant mutations was observed in 11.7% (95% confidence interval 7.6 to 17.6%) of the samples.
The use of other lists to determine transmitted resistance would result in even higher false-positive rates of transmitted resistance, because most include additional polymorphic mutations which occur at >0.5% in the absence of drug pressure.
Not surprisingly, the prevalence of transmitted resistance after 10 years was most influenced by the persistence time of transmitted resistance (SRRC = 0.53), explaining 28% of the variance.
Microbes respond promptly to negative natural selection in the form of antibiotics by developing genetically transmitted resistance to the action of individual antibiotics or sets of antibiotics.
This could potentially increase levels of transmitted resistance.
Also, transmitted resistance cases are frequently found to be clustered [7], [8].
If transmitted resistance is found to be at or above 3% then repeating the BSLQA test in the next scheduled occasion using a 5% threshold value would provide more information as to how quickly transmitted resistance is increasing in Botswana.
The value of a standard SDRM list lies not just in obtaining an accurate estimation of transmitted resistance but also in making it possible to compare estimates of transmitted resistance from different regions and times.
