Macrophages – the front line of our immune system – protect us from infections. But in the case of the tuberculosis bacteria, this often goes wrong. The group of Annemarie Meijer from the Leiden Institute of Biology has now discovered that macrophages in zebrafish are better able to eliminate tuberculosis bacteria if they lack a certain receptor. The research, published in the journal Cell Reports, may contribute to new treatment strategies for tuberculosis.

-- European Investment Bank and BioVersys sign a financing agreement of up to €20 million to facilitate the development of new treatments against life-threatening resistant bacterial infections.
-- The venture debt loan is financed under the Infectious Diseases Finance Facility set up as part of Horizon 2020, the European Union’s research and innovation programme for 2014-2020.
-- BioVersys has a rich pipeline of drugs in clinical development for the treatment of tuberculosis and hospital-acquired infections, like ventilator-associated pneumonia, seen most recently in COVID-19 patients in intensive care. The company has additional preclinical assets and follow-on programmes all focusing on different unmet medical needs in antimicrobial resistance.

The Lancet Global Health journal reports the findings of a study of a host blood test that can find those at high risk of tuberculosis in people living with HIV. The blood mRNA biomarker differentiated between people living with HIV who had active tuberculosis from those without TB, and predicted which individuals would develop TB within 15 months.

The immune response to tuberculosis (TB) differs in adults and newborn babies due to the way immune cells use energy to kick into gear in a bid to kill the bacteria. This fresh discovery – just published in leading journal, Frontiers in Immunology – offers hope for improving treatments for what remains a deadly disease.

A new technical guide addresses critical gaps in TB care and control by focusing on overcoming the psychological, social and economic factors that prevent people from accessing diagnosis, adhering to care plans and successfully completing treatment.

GENEVA, 13 April 2021 – A new report by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria shows COVID-19 has massively disrupted health systems and health service delivery for HIV, TB and malaria in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia in 2020. The report highlights the urgent need to scale up the adaptive measures that health facilities adopted to continue the fight against HIV, TB, malaria, to ramp up delivery of critical supplies for the COVID-19 response, and prevent health care systems and community responses from collapse.

The Virtual Global Forum on TB Vaccines will be held on 20-22 April 2021 and will review the state of the field and recent progress in TB vaccine research and development against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On World TB Day (24 March) the MEP Lung Health Group conducted an event, Tuberculosis research and investment – lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The MEP Lung Health Group is an informal platform for policymakers, health professionals and patients to identify the potential European Union policy measures aimed at improving lung health. A video recording of the event is now available online. For further details, click here.

On 20 April 2021, the TB Europe Coalition and the Regional Expert Group on Migration and Health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia will co-host a webinar addressing the barriers migrants face when accessing TB and healthcare services across the Western European countries and the challenges for service delivery.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific released a report summarizing current evidence on TB outbreaks in schools and contextualizing the information within the Western Pacific Region. Case studies from four countries highlighted the diverse range of experiences in the Region. As many countries have minimal experience in preventing and responding to TB outbreaks in schools, evidence from past outbreaks and case studies from a few countries could inform future responses.