A programmatic latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) intervention led to completion rates of 92.7% for LTBI screening and 82.5% for TB preventive therapy (TPT) among elderly patients with poorly controlled diabetes, according to study findings published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

20 May 2021, Geneva | The World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Programme is pleased to share its first report of country case studies on programmatic innovations that are being implemented to overcome challenges in tuberculosis (TB) prevention and care, created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

New research using human lung samples and three-dimensional bioengineering techniques to replicate the lung environment has revealed the important role of a subset of immune cells in the lung in fighting tuberculosis (TB). The cells, called T Helper 17 cells, or Th17, have been found to be important in animal models of TB, but are rarely detected in the blood of humans and so their importance in human disease has not been clear until now.

Researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine have developed a highly sensitive blood test that can find traces of the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB) in infants a year before they develop the deadly disease, according to a study published in BMC Medicine. 

Researchers discover an important new way to compare the effectiveness of tuberculosis treatments that will have crucial implications for combatting the global tuberculosis epidemic. This research is led by scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado State University and University of California San Francisco.

The Stop TB Partnership launches the first of two online consultations to inform the development of the new Global Plan to End TB for the period 2023 to 2030.

Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership, tells Health Europa Quarterly about the ongoing global effort to combat tuberculosis.

Patients with multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (TB) and a normal baseline QTc interval may benefit from bedaquiline plus delamanid combination therapy, according to the findings of a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

On 21 May 2021, the TB Europe Coalition and the Regional Expert Group on Migration and Health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia will co-host a panel session on migrant health and TB service delivery in the World Health Organization European Region.

On this year’s International Nurses Day, the Stop TB Partnership is humbled to pay tribute to nurses and highlight the crucial work they play every single day to support people suffering and in need of diagnosis, treatment, and care due to tuberculosis (TB), COVID-19, and many other diseases.