The treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is long, demanding, and expensive. In particular, the ever increasing emergence of resistant tuberculosis bacteria requires a lot of patience: In these cases, the WHO generally recommends a standard treatment duration of at least 18 months, as there are no reliable biomarkers for an early termination. Under the leadership of the DZIF scientists at the Research Center Borstel, six years of research have now succeeded in identifying a biomarker that points to an individual end of therapy based on the activity of 22 genes. In many cases, this probably allows the treatment to be shortened safely.

A comment published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health addressed the issue of the provision of TB preventive therapy for all forms of TB as an emergency measure to combat the devastating effect of COVID-19 on TB not only by averting the development of active TB disease and the ensuing morbidity and mortality in the paediatric population but also by easing the strain of overstretched health-care systems.

Indian activists demand the introduction of the newer short-course TB preventive treatment regimens for people living with HIV.

The tuberculosis (TB) vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) could protect newborns against a variety of common infections, such as upper respiratory tract infections, chest infections and diarrhoea, according to a new study in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The TB Europe Coalition and the Regional Expert Group on Migration and Health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are coordinating a series of 3 webinars on TB and migrant health. The webinars will address the barriers migrants face when accessing TB and healthcare services across the World Health Organization European Region and the challenges for service delivery.

Research has found fidaxomicin, an antibiotic usually used to treat bowel infections, prevents growth of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) in the lab.

17 February 2021 | GENEVA - Significant advances to the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and drug resistance in adults, adolescents and children are expected, following key updates on new molecular assays, announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in a Rapid Communication released today.

The country needs to fast track direct benefit transfer payments and clear the backlog to ensure tuberculosis patients are not left in a lurch.

If tuberculosis is to be eradicated by 2035, enhanced strategies for preventing close contacts of TB patients from developing the disease are urgently needed as an essential service in the healthcare system.