TB news from the World Lung Health Conference, Paris

This article originally appeared in HIV & AIDS treatment in practice, an email newsletter for healthcare workers and community-based organisations in resource-limited settings published by NAM between 2003 and 2014.
This article is more than 15 years old.

Shorter combination TB preventive regimens may be effective alternative to six-month isoniazid preventive therapy

Shorter TB preventive regimens combining isoniazid with a rifamycin-type drug are just as effective as a six-month course of isoniazid in preventing TB in people with HIV, according to preliminary results from a large randomised study conducted in South Africa, presented on Monday at the World Lung Health conference in Paris.

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Glossary

multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)

A specific form of drug-resistant TB, due to bacilli resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful anti-TB drugs. MDR-TB usually occurs when treatment is interrupted, thus allowing organisms in which mutations for drug resistance have occurred to proliferate.

isoniazid

An antibiotic that works by stopping the growth of bacteria. It is used with other medications to treat active tuberculosis (TB) infections, and on its own to prevent active TB in people who may be infected with the bacteria without showing any symptoms (latent TB). 

strain

A variant characterised by a specific genotype.

 

reinfection

In HIV, synonym for superinfection. In hepatitis C, used when someone who has been cured of the virus is infected with hepatitis C again.

extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB)

A form of drug-resistant tuberculosis in which bacteria are resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful anti-TB drugs, plus any fluoroquinolone and at least one injectable second-line drug. 

TB vaccine reduces new cases by almost 40% in people with HIV

A TB vaccine reduced the incidence of laboratory-confirmed TB in HIV-positive people by 37% in a large placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial in Tanzania, researchers from the United States and Tanzania reported on Monday at the World Lung Health conference in Paris.

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Migrants with MDR-TB in southern Africa being dumped off at borders without referrals to care

Some migrant workers in southern Africa who have been diagnosed with MDR-TB are being deposited at the border of their home country without treatment or referral to care, according to reports at the World Lung Health Conference held in Paris from October 17th-20th.

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The scale of the challenge in fight against TB in South Africa

Southern Africa faces enormous challenges in the fight against TB and TB/HIV coinfection, according to several reports made at the South African TB conference, held in July in Durban.

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South Africa ’s lop-sided TB response: more attention to prevention of drug resistance required

South Africa needs to spend a lot more money on directly observed therapy for TB (DOTS), according to experts, to avoid a lop-sided response that spends too much on MDR-TB as a result of spending too little on ensuring the success of first-line TB treatment.

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More delays in the fight against TB in South Africa

With the failure of the South African National AIDS Committee (SANAC)’s 1.1-billion Rand (round 8) application to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) and the ongoing political uncertainty with a “caretaker” government until the 2009 elections, South African delegates attending the World Lung Health conference in Paris last week expressed fears that many long awaited activities to scale-up TB and TB/HIV services will be placed on hold for some time to come.

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Long hospital stays for TB treatment can increase risk of reinfection with MDR or XDR-TB strains

Hospitalising people with tuberculosis – whether it is drug-sensitive or drug-resistant - for long periods in order to treat the condition puts them at increased risk of reinfection with multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively-drug-resistant (XDR)-TB strains, according to a Latvian study presented at the World Lung Health Conference in Paris last week.

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Plasma concentrations of rifampicin may be too low in children using currently recommended doses

The currently recommended dosage of rifampicin for children may be too low according to a fairly large pharmacokinetic study presented at the 39th Union World Conference on Lung Health held in Paris.

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