VOL.10    2021.10.01

편집자 한마디!

국내외 결핵(TB) 뉴스

학술연구자료

STOP-TB 코리아 소식

올해 제16회 고촌상은 파키스탄의 사회봉사 비영리단체인 ‘도파시 재단 (Dopasi Foundation)’이 수상의 영광을 안게 되었습니다. 1980년 항결핵제 ‘리팜피신’을 도입하는 등, 국내 결핵퇴치를 위해 평생을 노력한 故 고촌 이종근 회장의 숭고한 정신을 기리기위해, 종근당 고촌재단과 결핵퇴치 국제협력사업단 (Stop TB Partnership)이 공동으로 결핵퇴치에 공헌한 개인과 단체를 선정해, 2006년부터 10만 달러의 상금과 함께 고촌상을 매년 시상하고 있습니다. 국내에서도 여기 계신 분들을 비롯하여 고촌상을 받으시는 분들이 하루빨리 나왔으면 좋겠습니다.

On 30 September 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO)' Global TB Program will host a special #EndTB webinar on strengthening TB surveillance, providing a global synthesis of findings and recommendations from national TB surveillance assessments and epidemiological reviews carried out between January 2013 and April 2020. For further details about the webinar and to register, click here.

The non-exclusive, worldwide license covers the patents and expertise of promising long-acting injectable technologies that could be applied in three disease areas with a high prevalence in low- and middle-income countries: malaria, TB, and hepatitis C. Source: Medicines Patent Pool

On the occasion of the third anniversary of the first-ever UN High-Level Meeting on TB, 26 September, the TB Europe Coalition issued a statement underling the value of civil society and TB affected communities role in the TB response and calling on governments to create a favorable environment for their meaningful engagement. The statement is available in English and Russian.

On World Lung Day, 25 September, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) called for respiratory health to be a top priority in global decision-making beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Global Impact of Respiratory Disease report, despite cost-effective health interventions being available, respiratory diseases remain a leading cause of death and disability. More than 10 million people develop TB and 1.4 million die of it each year, making it the most common lethal infectious disease next to COVID-19.

Médecins Sans Frontières says TB medicine remains unaffordable for children in high-burden countries; governments should take measures to overcome patents and allow production of lifesaving drugs through generic manufacturers. “The high price of delamanid of $1,700 per treatment course has significantly limited access in many countries. In India, negotiations with Otsuka and Viatris [Mylan] have been unsuccessful, with the manufacturers refusing to lower the price to the $942 – currently being offered to South Africa by Viatris.” The MSF statement follows the WHO’s recent rapid communication recommending children of all ages with drug-resistant TB should have access to delamanid and bedaquiline.

A research paper determined that social support plays a significant role in tearing down TB treatment barriers and improving patient adherence to treatments.

Testing for TB in the Philippines dropped by more than 50 per cent in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government said. Around 556,000 people were tested in 2020. This is a 59% decrease from the more than one million tests conducted in 2019.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) released a report with cumulative results through the end of 2020 in the responses to HIV, TB and malaria, revealing the catastrophic impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the fight against TB worldwide. In 2020, the number of people treated for drug-resistant TB in the countries where the Global Fund invests dropped by a staggering 19%, with those on treatment for extensively drug-resistant TB registering an even bigger drop of 37%. The number of HIV-positive TB patients on antiretroviral treatment as well as TB treatment dropped by 16%.

The non-profit drug developer, TB Alliance, has granted a non-exclusive license to manufacture the anti-TB drug pretomanid to Mumbai-based drugmaker Lupin Limited. Lupin says it intends to commercialise the drug in approximately 140 countries and territories, including many of the high-burden countries. Pretomanid is part of the three-drug regimen BPaL, that includes bedaquiline and linezolid.

A study found no relationship between vitamin D levels in early infancy and TB incidence during childhood, suggesting the link between vitamin D levels and TB risk may need to be reconsidered. Source: University of Cape Town

Mozambique was the first country in the world to adopt the new short-course TB preventive therapy combining the two drugs rifapentine and isoniazid. The new fixed-dose combination of '3HP' prevents people infected with TB from developing active TB disease and reduces the number of pills that people have to take every week from nine to three. 3,413 patients in the country have already begun the new treatment in 70 health units.

The Australian National University in partnership with the World Health Organization conducted the world-first study mapping the spectrum and prevalence of TB-related disabilities. Researchers found that among a range of disabilities associated with TB, mental health disorders, respiratory impairments and musculoskeletal impairments were the most common.

Researchers are trying to devise a quicker and cheaper way to diagnose TB based on the volatile organic compounds that are emitted from human skin

A study found that the risk of TB was 48% higher in patients with diabetes compared to those without diabetes. The risk of TB incidence was shown to increase with diabetes duration.

PLOS ONE published Treatment Action Group’s comprehensive analysis of public investments in the development of rapid technology for diagnosing infectious diseases. The analysis found that the public invested at least $252 million in the research and development of GeneXpert which stands in stark contrast to the lack of affordable pricing and favorable service and maintenance terms from the diagnostics company Cepheid.

The Lancet Global Health published the first study to estimate full-income losses due to TB mortality in 120 countries and to extend these estimates to assess the economic consequences of not meeting the Sustainable Development Goals TB mortality target by 2030. The study found that disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic added $290.3 billion to the global cost of TB deaths. The economic loss due to these deaths was $17.5 trillion in 2020, with South Asia incurring the highest share ($7.1 trillion).

A new study explored how Mycobacterium tuberculosis controls its own growth on a molecular level. The study, published in Nature, revealed a newly discovered DNA modification system identifying a new target for antibiotics against TB.

Researchers identified how gene expression changes during different stages of TB, including early after infection before any symptoms are clinically detectable, providing information about the host immune response which could help the development of therapies against TB.

A systematic review and individual isolate data analysis into genetic variants and their association with phenotypic resistance to bedaquiline concludes that MDR-TB treatment regimens should be designed to protect bedaquiline and that phenotypic DST should be used to guide and monitor treatment of patients.

Social and health factors associated with unfavourable treatment outcomes in adolescents and young adults with TB in Brazil, a retrospective cohort study.

An analysis of the economic impact of TB mortality in 120 countries predicts profound economic and health losses if, as is probable, the UN’s target to end TB by the end of this decade is missed. Researchers estimated full-income losses including those due to excess deaths resulting from COVID-19-related disruptions to tuberculosis services, for the period 2020–50.

An observational cohort study comparing three tests for latent TB infection in high-risk populations in the US, supports the preferential use of IFN-γ release assays.

Weill Cornell Medicine has secured a total of US $55 million this year to fund research into latency and persistence in M.Tb, from the National Institutes for Health in the US.

The performance of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra for the diagnosis of TB in people living with HIV and AIDS in China, using bronchoalveolar lavage samples instead of sputum: A Prospective Study.

The Union, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins and TB doctors in five clinics in China, has assessed the feasibility of conducting post-TB assessments at the end of treatment under routine programmatic conditions in China. In a pilot, key findings were:

Public Health Action is the free access, online journal of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. The journal focuses on TB, lung health, non-communicable diseases and related public health issues. The September 2021 issue is available here.