VOL.48   /  2024.04.24

The Stop TB Partnership, Country-Level Platform Partnerships – Stories from the field of March 2024

Registration Now Open for the UN Multi-stakeholder Hearing on Antimicrobial Resistance. The registration form for the Hearing can be accessed here. The deadline to register is 24 April 2024 at 12pm ET.

The WHO released a Rapid Communication announcing forthcoming updates on co-administration of treatment for drug-resistant TB and hepatitis C.

The 1/4/6x24 Campaign and the Stop TB Partnership co-hosted a webinar on 27 March 2024 to launch the Campaign’s new report: Getting Better Faster: Delivering on the Promise of New TB Treatments. The report highlights progress and gaps in scaling up access to shorter, safer TB regimens — one month or once weekly for TB prevention, four months for drug-susceptible TB, and six months for drug-resistant TB — by the end of 2024. The webinar recording is now available online and can be accessed here.

The WHO BPaLM Accelerator Platform was established in January 2023, right after the update of the WHO guidelines on the treatment of drug-resistant TB in 2022, with the aim to support countries and stakeholders in information exchange and technical discussions to address challenges in the adoption and implementation of the BPaLM/BPaL regimen. Learn more about the Platform and how to join it here.

TB REACH to provide integrated TB services to 500,000 people through new GBP 4 million funding boost from the UK

The dictionary aims to unify TB-related terminology and promote clearer communication by providing a common language for researchers, policy-makers, donors and affected communities. To access the Global TB Dictionary and learn more about its methodology, please visit www.tbdictionary.org. Source: McGill University Health Centre

The Australian Government announced a new AUD 17 million grant to support work with TB Alliance such as helping bolster clinical research and improving access to new treatments for drug-resistant TB.

MTBVAC, the first vaccine against TB derived from a human source, begins clinical trials in adults in India. MTBVAC is the only vaccine against TB in clinical trials based on a genetically modified form of the pathogen isolated from humans Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Source: Zendal Group

The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute announced that a Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate whether the M72/AS01E TB vaccine candidate can protect adolescents and adults from pulmonary TB is now underway.

New research to be presented at this year's ESCMID Global Congress in Barcelona, Spain (27–30 April) has found compelling evidence that TB can have a lasting impact on the lungs of individuals who have been successfully treated for the disease. TB survivors have smaller lungs with narrower airways and slower air flow.

Rifampicin 600 mg daily as a flat dose for TB treatment is an effective and safe alternative to weight-banded dosing of rifampicin, according to study findings published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Researchers compared the efficacy and safety of rifampicin flat dosing at 600 mg daily vs weight-banded dosing - 450 mg for patients weighing 40-54 kg and 600 mg for those weighing ≥55 kg.

In a study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers compared the performance of tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) in predicting TB. In this diagnostic study assessing predictive value, IGRAs demonstrated superior performance for predicting incident TB compared with the TST.

A study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, found significant and persistent racial disparities in TB incidence among U.S.-born residents, with more than 18,000 excess TB cases attributed to disparities.

In a study , published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers assessed the global, national, and regional burden and trends in TB using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021. Global fight against TB misses 2020 WHO milestones, despite progress in certain age groups.

A new way to classify TB, aiming to improve focus on the early stages of the disease, was published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The International Consensus for Early TB (ICE-TB) framework was developed by a diverse group of 64 experts.

Brazil could improve TB control if all patients underwent a sensitivity test capable of early detection of resistance not only to rifampicin, but also to isoniazid, before starting treatment. A study , published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, found that monoresistance to isoniazid predicted unfavorable outcomes.

A population-wide observational study to be presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024) in Barcelona, Spain (27-30 April) showed an association between TB and cancer, with those with current or previous TB more likely to have a diagnosis of a variety of cancers, including lung, blood, gynecological and colorectal cancers.

A study , published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, leveraged decades of cancer research to study TB-affected lung tissue and improve treatment. Researchers identified a combination of medications that may improve blood flow within granulomas, benefiting drug delivery.

Researchers have investigated the potential for a specific host-directed therapy to stimulate the immune system to eliminate TB, while minimizing harmful inflammation as one way to help bypass antibiotic resistance and complement existing treatments. Their research was published in the European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

With resistance to chemical antibiotics on the rise, the world needs entirely new forms of antimicrobials. A study , published in Microbiology Spectrum, showed that an enzymatic cocktail can kill a variety of mycobacterial species of bacteria, including those that cause TB.

Scientists have taken a major step towards developing a blood test that could identify millions of people who spread TB unknowingly. A study has discovered a group of biological markers that are found in high levels among infectious patients.

The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease released the March 2024 issue of IJTLD OPEN – a fully-compliant, open access journal to enhance the coverage of TB and lung disease. IJTLD OPEN March 2024 issue can be accessed here. For more open access TB research publications, click here.

RESIST-TB released its April 2024 newsletter with the latest updates and research publications on drug-resistant TB.