Current issues in global tuberculosis control.

Despite attempts to standardize tuberculosis (TB) control strategies, there remains wide variation in the selection and implementation of control strategies within and among nations. Some of this variation is appropriate; based on wide variations in the available resources, the prevalence of TB infection, the incidence of TB disease, the relative contribution of reactivation versus recent transmission to incident cases, and the rate of HIV co-infection. This review will discuss three controversial questions relevant to global TB control: (1) What is the role of the treatment of latent TB infection in global TB control? (2) What are successful strategies to control immigrant TB in low incidence countries? (3) What are successful strategies to control TB in persons with HIV infection?     

Attention to gender issues in tuberculosis control.

Although a seventy per cent excess of male over female TB cases are reported globally each year, the reasons for this difference are unclear. Generally, women in poor countries confront more barriers than men in accessing health care services. Yet, research is lacking to explain the impact of gender inequalities in access to care on reported sex ratios for TB. A review of the limited available literature and field visits to TB programmes offered insights and suggested a framework to study gender differentials in TB. This paper considers the role of gender at various steps in effective TB care. A research strategy to study and account for gender differences in TB control is proposed.     

结核病若干问题研究进展

结核病是由结核分枝杆菌引起的一种严重危害人类健康的慢性传染病。据世界卫生组织（world Health Organi—zation,WHO）2010年全球结核病控制报告显示[1],2009年全球新发结核病患者940万,共有结核病患者1400万,死于结核病者130万。结核病给人类的健康带来了如此巨大的负担,人类一直致力于结核病诊断、治疗、预防等方面的研究。笔者将从以下5个方面来介绍结核病研究的一些进展。     

New issues in infectious diarrhea

Infectious diarrhea remains a leading cause of both mortality and morbidity worldwide. Novel organisms recently have been described as causes of previously undiagnosed diarrhea. In addition, changes in epidemiologic trends of known pathogens, such as Clostridium difficile, are occurring, including multiple outbreaks of a newly recognized epidemic strain associated with increased severity of cases and poor response to current antibiotics. Given rising resistance rates, new antimicrobial agents are being studied. Rifaximin is a nonabsorbable, gut-selective antibiotic recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of travelers' diarrhea caused by noninvasive Escherichia coli. This novel antibiotic has also shown promise in the prevention of travelers' diarrhea, as well as a host of other gastrointestinal disorders. Development of a vaccine against diarrheagenic organisms is of high global importance but has been a challenge, owing to the multiple causative serotypes of E. coli and other organisms.     

New issues in geriatric care

The rapid growth of the elderly population has increased the need for improved geriatric care and prevention of disability. For example, the prevalence and severity of osteoporosis can be reduced significantly by the use of estrogen, with or without added progestin, in postmenopausal women. A common and devastating problem of frail elderly persons is urinary incontinence, most cases of which can be classified without referral for urologic services. Appropriate treatment can improve nearly half of all cases of persistent incontinence. Comprehensive geriatric assessment is effective in guiding the treatment of frail elderly patients and leads to significantly improved outcomes under appropriate conditions. The advent of the teaching nursing home has shed light on the medical problems of elderly residents of nursing homes, including malnutrition, dysregulation of water and electrolyte balance, falling, cognitive and affective illnesses, behavior disturbances, infections, and pathogenic drug use. The future application of advanced technology may revolutionize nursing home care.     

New tuberculosis vaccines

The current tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), is a live vaccine used worldwide, as it protects against severe forms of the disease, saving thousands of lives every year, but its efficacy against pulmonary forms of TB, responsible for transmission of the diseases, is variable.For more than 80 years now no new TB vaccines have been successfully developed. Over the last decade the effort of the scientific community has resulted in the design and construction of promising vaccine candidates. The goal is to develop a new generation of vaccines effective against respiratory forms of the disease. We will focus this review on new prophylactic vaccine candidates that aim to prevent TB diseases.Two are the main strategies used to improve the immunity conferred by the current BCG vaccine, by boosting it with new subunit vaccines, and a second strategy is focused on the construction of new more effective live vaccines, capable to replace the current BCG and to be used as prime vaccines.After rigorous preclinical studies in different animal models new TB vaccine candidates enter in clinical trials in humans. First, a small Phase I for safety followed by immunological evaluation in Phase II trials and finally evaluated in large population Phase III efficacy trials in endemic countries. At present BCG prime and boost with different subunit vaccine candidates are the more advanced assessed in Phase II. Two prime vaccines (based on recombinant BCG) have been successfully evaluated for safety in Phase I trials. A short number of live attenuated vaccines are in advance preclinical studies and the candidates ready to enter Phase I safety trials are produced under current good manufacturing practices.     

Psychiatric issues in the management of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

INTRODUCTION: Psychiatric issues present a challenge in the treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Both baseline psychiatric disorders and development of psychiatric complications related to anti-tuberculosis drugs and psychosocial factors require aggressive management. SETTING: A community-based non-governmental health organization in Lima, Peru. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature for psychiatric complications associated with anti-tuberculosis medications, to describe the incidence and prevalence of depression, anxiety and psychosis among individuals receiving MDR-TB therapy, and to detail the management approach used in this cohort. METHODS: A retrospective case series was performed among the first 75 patients to receive individualized MDR-TB therapy in Lima, Peru, between 1996 and 1999. RESULTS: Baseline depression and baseline anxiety were observed in respectively 52.2% and 8.7% of this cohort. Most individuals with baseline depression experienced improvement of depressive symptoms during the course of TB therapy. The incidence of depression, anxiety and psychosis during MDR-TB treatment was 13.3%, 12.0% and 12.0%, respectively. While the majority of individuals with depression, anxiety and psychosis required psychiatric pharmacotherapy, cycloserine was successfully continued in all but one case. CONCLUSION: Psychiatric comorbidities are not a contra-indication to MDR-TB therapy. Management of psychiatric complications is possible without compromising anti-tuberculosis treatment.     

New vaccines against tuberculosis

In September 2000, recognizing the effect of communicable diseases as obstacles to development in poorer countries, the European Commission assembled a special round table on 'accelerated action targeted at major communicable diseases within the context of poverty reduction'. The three major communicable diseases discussed were tuberculosis (TB), malaria and HIV. One outcome of this discussion was a workshop examining issues related to the fight against TB in Africa, which took place in Gorée, Sénégal, in May 2001. The timing was propitious, as new vaccines for TB (recombinant MVA and BCG, and adjuvanated recombinant fusion proteins or peptide constructs), are just beginning to enter human clinical trials. All but the last of these have shown promise in animal models, up to and including non-human primates, and all are strongly immunogenic and apparently safe. Humans trials for safety and efficacy are thus the logical next step. This review summarizes recent advances in tuberculosis vaccine development, with a special emphasis on issues raised at the Gorée meeting about testing and deploying new generation vaccines in TB-endemic areas such as Africa.     

Multi-source financing for tuberculosis treatment in China: key issues and challenges

Background::The End Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy of the World Health Organization highlights the need for patient-centered care and social protection measures tha...     

诊治硅肺病合并肺结核应注意的问题

硅肺病(又称硅沉着病,旧称矽肺)是吸入硅(石英)粉尘所致的永久性肺组织瘢痕形成[1].硅肺病和肺结核是两种不同的肺部疾病,但二者关系密切,硅肺病患者是肺结核病的易患人群[2-4].硅肺病合并肺结核后,患者体内的硅尘与MTB协同作用引起的组织反应非常复杂,其病理改变、临床表现和影像学特征既不同于单纯硅肺病,也不同于单纯肺结核,是两种疾病相互共存的一种特殊类型,临床上将其单列为硅肺结核(旧称矽肺结核)[5-7].由于硅肺结核是两种疾病合并存在,相互影响,相互促进,病情进展较快,临床表现复杂,诊断与治疗均较为困难,预后也较差[5-7].     

Controversies and unresolved issues in tuberculosis prevention and control: a low-burden-country perspective

Despite declining incidence in most high-income countries, tuberculosis shows no signs of disappearing in the near future. Although surveillance data from most Western European countries show relatively stable declines in the rate of tuberculosis over the past several decades, some have reported either an increasing rate or a decelerating pace of reduction in recent years. The burden of disease now disproportionately affects high-risk groups such as migrants, homeless persons, and prisoners. In view of the concentration of cases in urban areas and high-risk deprived groups, interventions that may not be efficient when applied to the general population may be highly cost effective when targeted at high-risk groups. In this article, we examine some controversial elements of tuberculosis prevention and control in low-burden countries and recommend issues for further research. In particular, we assess current evidence on the duration of protection by BCG vaccine, the screening of migrants and hard-to-reach groups, and the use of preventive therapy for contacts of cases of infectious multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. This analysis is presented from the perspective of low-tuberculosis-burden, high-income countries attempting to eliminate tuberculosis.