In-depth: New resistance tests set to improve TB treatment

By Elri Voigt, November 24, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 14: Tuberculosis, Latest, TB, TB

Tuberculosis (TB) can be resistant to treatment with several different drugs. Tests that identify which drugs someone’s TB is resistant to are critical to ensuring that people are not treated with drugs that don’t work for them, especially given the significant side effects associated with some of the drugs. Elri Voigt assesses the state of play in testing for TB drug resistance and the promise of exciting new technologies, such as whole genome sequencing.

In-depth: New resistance tests set to improve TB treatment

Opinion: Mental health screening for people with TB will change lives and boost SA’s TB response

By Amanda Fononda, November 18, 2022

Posted in: COVID-19, Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Healthcare system, KwaZulu-Natal, Latest, Mental Health, Provinces, TB, TB

According to some estimates, over a third of tuberculosis (TB) patients have high levels of psychological distress and a quarter have an alcohol use disorder. Following an eye-opening project in KwaZulu-Natal, Atlantic Institute Tekano Fellow Amanda Fononda argues that a diagnosis of an illness (such as TB) should be accompanied by mental health screening for treatment readiness, adherence, and overall well-being.

Tags: Atlantic Institute Community Health Care Workers community-based mental health services community-based organisations COVID-19 Department of Health depression drug-sensitive TB featured HIV KwaZulu-Natal mental health mental health screening primary health care primary health facilities Stigma treatment adherence tubculosis

Opinion: Mental health screening for people with TB will change lives and boost SA’s TB response

TB treatment can be cut to two months for some, finds landmark study

By Elri Voigt, November 15, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 14: Tuberculosis, Edition 7: TB, Latest, TB, TB

Some cases of tuberculosis (TB) can be successfully treated in as little as two months – a third of the current standard of six months. This is according to early findings from the landmark TRUNCATE TB trial presented at last week’s Union World Conference on Lung Health. Elri Voigt reports.

Tags: bedaquiline drug-drug interactions DRUG-RESISTANT TB drug-susceptible tuberculosis featured HIV infectious diseases linezolid rifampicin TB TB symptom screening TB Treatment TB treatment regimens The Union Conference on Lung Health Treatment Action Group TRUNCATE TB Trial tuberculosis

TB treatment can be cut to two months for some, finds landmark study

From Cameroonian village to Stellenbosch Professor – top TB researcher reflects on a remarkable journey

By Biénne Huisman, September 20, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 14: Tuberculosis, Edition 7: TB, Healthcare Workers, Latest, Science, TB, TB

When Novel Chegou first arrived in Stellenbosch from Cameroon in 2004 he sold African crafts at a stall next to the town’s village green to save money for his studies. Today, Professor Chegou is one of South Africa’s leading tuberculosis researchers. Biénne Huisman caught up with Chegou shortly after the announcement that he had been awarded the Royal Society Africa Prize.

Tags: A Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology African health scientists biomedical research Faces of health featured Molecular Biology and Human Genetics paediatric TB Professor Novel Chegou Royal Society Africa Prize Stellenbosch University TB meningitis TB Research TB screening TB testing tuberculosis

From Cameroonian village to Stellenbosch Professor – top TB researcher reflects on a remarkable journey

Women in Health: Francesca Conradie – from HIV to groundbreaking TB research

By Aisha Abdool Karim, August 17, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 14: Tuberculosis, Edition 7: TB, HIV/AIDS, Latest, TB

Dr Francesca Conradie knew she wanted to be a doctor when she was eight years old. Now, 50 years later, she is a pioneer in the field of tuberculosis (TB) and led a landmark trial that changed how drug-resistant TB is treated. Aisha Abdool Karim spoke to her about the reasons behind her switch from HIV research to TB, her initial surprise at the remarkable NiX trial results, and the man who has shaped her life – her father.

Tags: AIDS Denialism ARVs AZT bedaquiline BPaL delamanid DR-TB treatment drug-resistant tuberculosis European Medicines Agency featured Francesca Conradie HIV HIV/AIDS linezolid Medical Research Council Nix-TB trial SAMRC Spotlight on Women in Health Stigma TB TB Research TB response TB-PRACTECAL ZeNix trial

Women in Health: Francesca Conradie – from HIV to groundbreaking TB research

Shorter, simpler DR-TB regimen expected later this year

By Catherine Tomlinson, June 22, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Latest, NSP and SANAC, TB, TB

A new six-month treatment regimen for drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis is expected to be rolled out in the public sector later this year – current regimens take anything from nine to 18 months. Catherine Tomlinson unpacks why the switch is important and outlines what still needs to happen to make it a reality.

Tags: bedaquiline BPaL regimen BPaLM Department of Health Dr Norbert Ndjeka DR TB DR-TB treatment guidelines DRUG-RESISTANT TB featured linezolid Macleods moxifloxacin MSF National Health Council pretomanid SAHPRA TB Alliance TB Proof TB response TB-PRACTECAL World Health Organization

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Shorter, simpler DR-TB regimen expected later this year

Are long-acting injections the future of TB prevention?

By Tiyese Jeranji, March 23, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 14: Tuberculosis, Edition 7: TB, Healthcare system, Latest, TB

Long-acting injections have been successfully used as contraception and more recently HIV prevention. Now researchers are exploring whether similar long-acting injections could be used for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis. Tiyese Jeranji reports.

Tags: 1HP 3HP bedaquiline clinical pharmacology Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2022)CROI delamanid featured HIV Janssen Pharmaceuticals long-acting injections MDR-TB rifapentine TB TB prevention TB prevention regimen TB preventive therapy TB Research TB response TB Treatment TB trials tuberculosis World Health Organization World TB Day

Are long-acting injections the future of TB prevention?

Opinion: It is time to invest in ending TB in SA

By Yogan Pillay and Gaurang Tanna, March 23, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Healthcare system, Latest, TB, TB

Investing in tuberculosis means that everyone has a stake in eliminating TB as a public health threat in our country: every person, every family, every community, every organisation (public and private) as well as government, writes Dr Yogan Pillay and Gaurang Tanna.

Tags: asymptomatic TB BCG vaccine Department of Health featured health financing health resources infectious diseases National TB Prevalence Survey Public Health SANAC South African National AIDS Council (SANAC)Targeted universal testing TB TB Check TB infections TB preventative therapy TB recovery plan tuberculosis World TB Day

Opinion: It is time to invest in ending TB in SA

PROFILE: I view the doctor-patient relationship as sacred, says leading TB doctor

By Biénne Huisman, March 22, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Healthcare system, Latest, TB, TB

Dr Jennifer Furin has fought drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) since 1995, when she worked as a student in a poverty-stricken suburb in Lima, Peru. Since then she has roamed the world, treating TB and HIV patients in under-resourced countries, including Haiti, Russia, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, eSwatini, Lesotho, and South Africa. Biénne Huisman chatted to Furin about her life working in TB and what it means to see things from the perspective of people living with TB.

Tags: Doctors without Borders DRUG-RESISTANT TB drug-susceptible tuberculosis featured HIV Jennifer Furin MSF multi-drug resistant TB TB programme World TB Day

Good and bad news about new TB vaccines

By Adele Baleta, February 28, 2022

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 7: TB, Healthcare system, Latest, TB, TB

While there are nine experimental tuberculosis (TB) vaccines in advanced trials, the vaccine pipeline beyond those nine prospects is relatively depleted. Adele Baleta reports on this and much more from the virtual Global TB Vaccine Forum held last week.

Tags: BCG vaccine Department of Health EDCTP TB funding European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership featured Global TB Vaccine Forum HIV HIV-exposed human clinical trials ICGRA Interferon-Gamma Release Assays M72/AS01E TB vaccine candidate MTBVAC trial New York Times Vaccine Tracker safety and immunogenicity SATVI South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative TB TB disease TB Funding TB infected adults TB infection TB vaccine TB vaccine pipeline TB Vaccine Research at Statens Serum Institut TB vaccine trials Treatment Action Group tuberculosis WHO WHO World TB Report 2020

Fingerstick blood test shows promise for TB screening

By Tiyese Jeranji, October 27, 2021

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 7: TB, Latest, TB, TB

The World Health Organization estimates that over four million of the almost ten million people who fell ill with tuberculosis in 2020 were not diagnosed. One obstacle to more people being diagnosed is the fact that most current tests require people to produce sputum – something children and some people living with HIV find difficult. Tiyese Jeranji looks at a new fingerstick blood test that may help diagnose more people quicker.

Tags: Cepheid DR TB extrapulmonary TB featured fingerstick blood test GeneXpert infectious diseases Keertan Dheda lung disease NAAT nucleic acid amplification test Omni people living with HIV Pulmonology SATVI sputum sample sputum-based Xpert MTB-RIF TAG TB diagnostics TB Proof TB research group at the Medical Research Council Unit in The Gambia TB response TB screening tuberculosis Union World Lung Conference

Fingerstick blood test shows promise for TB screening

Important TB drug as effective at lower dose, study finds

By Tiyese Jeranji and Marcus Low, July 26, 2021

Posted in: Edition 10: Drug-resistant TB, Edition 7: TB, Latest, TB, TB

The treatment of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis has been transformed over the last decade with treatment becoming more effective, safer, and treatment duration in many cases dropping to under a year. Even so, treatment can still come with serious side effects and for some, it can still last over a year and a half. In a finding that may help further reduce side effects, new research has found that the dosage of a key drug can be lowered without compromising how well it works. Tiyese Jeranji and Marcus Low report.

Tags: 2021 International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science bedaquiline BPaL Department of Health Dr Norbert Ndjeka DR-TB treatment guidelines DRUG-RESISTANT TB endTB featured linezolid National Clinical Advisory Committee pretomanid TB TB-PRACTECAL tuberculosis World Health Organization XDR-TB ZeNix trial