Panel Discussion - Laboratory Accreditation

April 2 - 6, 2012

 www.GHDonline.org

Last October the GLI (a network of international partners dedicated to accelerating and expanding access to quality assured laboratory services) launched a new implementation guide, Stepwise Process towards TB Laboratory Accreditation, to assist National TB Reference Laboratories (NRLs) meet the requirements for international standards of accreditation.

April 2-6, 2012, please join Christopher Gilpin, Ph.D., MPH, Scientist in TB Diagnostics and Laboratory Strengthening Unit at the WHO and co-moderator in the MDR-TB Treatment & Prevention Community on GHDonline.org; Thomas M. Shinnick, Ph.D. , Associate Director for Global Laboratory Activities, Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and Paul Klatser, Ph.D., head of the Biomedical Research department at the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam, in a free virtual panel discussion on “Implementing Quality Management Systems to Strengthen Laboratory Capacity.”

 Participation is free and easy, either by responding to emails from the panel or online when signed in.

February 2012

A new WHO study has revealed the highest ever global rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The study, published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, reports that drug resistance was found in 3.4% of all new TB cases and 20% of previously treated cases globally. Countries in eastern Europe and central Asia reported the highest proportions of MDR-TB among TB cases. Nearly 30% of new TB patients in the oblast of Murmansk in the Russian Federation and 65% of previously treated patients in the Republic of Moldova had MDR-TB.


WHO Issues FAQ on "Totally Drug-Resistant" TB  

Recently, there has been broad media coverage worldwide about totally drug-resistant TB. WHO has now issued an FAQ on this issue.

WHO states that the term “totally drug-resistant” has not been clearly defined for TB because there is not a reliable method to diagnose it through drug susceptibility testing (DST). Correlation of DST results with clinical response to treatment has not yet been adequately established. The prognostic relevance of in vitro resistance to drugs without an internationally accepted and standardized drug susceptibility test therefore remains unclear, and current WHO recommendations advise against the use of these results to guide treatment.

Link to the FAQ


Household contact investigation of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in a high HIV prevalence setting.
Vella V, Racalbuto V, Guerra R, Marra C, Moll A, Mhlanga Z, Maluleke M, Mhlope H, Margot B, Friedland G, Shah NS, Gandhi NR. IJTLD 2011; 15(9): 1170-5.

A prospective, observational study evaluating adult household contacts for active TB in order to determine the incidence rates of MDR- and XDR-TB of index cases diagnosed between January 2005 and September 2008 in a high HIV prevalnece setting. The authors conclude that active case finding for drug-resistant TB is a high-yield public health activity and must be a priority, as early diagnosis may stem further disease spread and improve survival.


Survival of civilian and prisoner drug-sensitive, multi- and extensive drug-resistant tuberculosis cohorts prospectively followed in Russia.
Balabanova Y, Nikolayevskyy V, Ignatyeva o, Kontsevaya I, Rutterford CM, Shakhmistova A, Malomanova N, Chinkova Y, Mironova S, Fedorin I, Drobniewski FA. PLoS One 2011; 6(6): e20531.

A long-term observational study to assess the survival and risk factors for death of a cohort of non-MDRTB and MDRTB civilian and prison patients and a civilian XDRTB cohort. They concluded that alarmingly high rates of XDRTB exist and that previous TB treatment cycles and MDR were significant risk factors for mortality - survival is short especially for HIV-infected patients.

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January 2012

Indian Partnership Launches Call for Action against Drug-Resistant TB (India)

The Partnership for TB Care and Control in India has launched a call to action for a national scale up in TB response. The call to action requires all health care workers to increase their efforts to diagnose TB quickly and accurately and ensure that patients complete their treatments. Failure to act against TB will reduce the possibility of India achieving its Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Gates Donates $750 Million to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (United States) 

Bill Gates announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $750 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.  The donation is in the form of a promissory note, which the foundation believes would give the Global Fund flexibility to distribute funds efficiently, based on immediate needs. Gates emphasized the importance of helping to change the fortunes of the poorest countries in the world by supporting the Global Fund. He downplayed the controversy over possible misuse of funds and suggested that the focus be placed on the lives saved through the fund.

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December 2011

Report: Rational use of moxifloxacin for tuberculosis treatment
Cox H, Ford N, Keshavjee S, McDermid C, Von Schoen-Angerer T, Mitnick C, Goermaere E. Lancet 2011; 11(4): 259-60.
This article outlines the potential risks of incorporating moxifloxacin into the existing first-line regimen, as it could compromise the efficacy of FQs in DR-TB treatment. The authors recommend reserving moxifloxacin as a second-line drug for the treatment of DR-TB, until potent partner drugs have been developed to make it efficacious as a first-line regimen.

For more publications, click here.

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