8 April 2021, Geneva | The definitions of tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes have been revised by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Global Tuberculosis Programme. New definitions of treatment outcomes will standardise the assessment of treatment outcomes for all TB patients and all treatment regimens regardless of drug-resistance status, type of drugs used or duration of treatment.

A consortium of researchers from Russia, Belarus, Japan, Germany and France led by a Skoltech scientist have uncovered the way in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis survives in iron-deficient conditions by utilizing rubredoxin B, a protein from a rubredoxin family that play an important role in adaptation to changing environmental conditions. The new study is part of an effort to study the role of M. tuberculosis enzymes in developing resistance to the human immune system and medication. The paper was published in the journal Bioorganic Chemistry.

Six years ago, Michael Niederweis, Ph.D., described the first toxin ever found for the deadly pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This toxin, tuberculosis necrotizing toxin, or TNT, became the founding member of a novel class of previously unrecognized toxins present in more than 600 bacterial and fungal species, as determined by protein sequence similarity. The toxin is released as M. tuberculosis bacteria survive and grow inside their human macrophage host, killing the macrophage and allowing the escape and spread of the bacteria.

In the past year, across all non-COVID conditions, routine health care has changed. GPs feel that acute care has been compromised due to their own changed focus, and because patients consult less frequently for non-COVID conditions. 

08 April, Geneva, Switzerland: Good news for all countries wanting to bring rapid molecular testing for tuberculosis (TB) and resistance to rifampicin to peripheral laboratories with minimal infrastructure. The Stop TB Partnership has negotiated global access pricing for Truenat^TM tests, a battery-powered molecular technology that can diagnose TB in one hour as well as test for resistance to the drug rifampicin.

On 1 April 2021, Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the TB Europe Coalition co-hosted a webinar, Demanding a higher standard of TB care in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). The webinar marked the launch of TAG’s TB Activist’s Guides recently translated to Russian and featured speakers who discussed policy gaps and advocacy strategies for activists to demand access to the highest standard of care for TB diagnosis, treatment, and prevention in EECA.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 7, 2021 — Work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in conjunction with its research partners, provides valuable new insights into the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) using blood tests. A paper in the journal PLOS ONE today demonstrates the role that host-pathogen interactions play in detecting key biomarkers in blood, facilitating the diagnosis of disseminated or sub-clinical TB disease.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University innovators have developed highly potent and selective compounds for use in the treatment of tuberculosis, which is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Program has initiated a process to conduct systematic reviews for the collection and assessment of available evidence on the prevalence of viral hepatitis B and C among patients with TB and multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) and whether the concurrent treatment of drug-resistant TB and hepatitis C is safe and increases the likelihood of treatment success and reduces unfavourable treatment outcomes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Program is announcing a call for experts to serve as members of the Technical Advisory Group on TB Diagnostics and Laboratory Strengthening to advise WHO on technical aspects related to the assessment and implementation of TB diagnostic tools and TB diagnostic strategies.