Changes in -Specific Immunity With Influenza co-infection at Time of TB Diagnosis.

Prior Influenza A viral (IAV) infection has been shown to increase susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) and TB has also been shown to be a primary cause of death during pandemics, including the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918-1919. The majority of data has been obtained from mouse models, thus the aim of this study was to determine the impact of Flu co-infection on host immunity and disease severity in TB patients at diagnosis. Sputum from 282 patients with active TB were analyzed for presence of FluA/FluB RNA at presentation using multiplex PCR.

Changes in Host Cytokine Patterns of TB Patients with Different Bacterial Loads Detected Using 16S rRNA Analysis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) has overtaken HIV as the biggest infectious disease killer, with the majority of deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. However it is unknown how differences in bacterial load alter host immune profiles in the sputum and blood of TB patients.

Methods: 16S ribosomal RNA analysis was used to determine bacterial load in sputum samples obtained from 173 patients with active TB (57 pre-treatment and 116 post-treatment).

Comparison of TB-LAMP, GeneXpert MTB/RIF and culture for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in The Gambia.

Background: Diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) remains difficult, particularly in resource-limited settings. The development of nucleic acid-based tests for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) has significantly increased sensitivity compared to conventional smear microscopy and provides results within a matter of hours compared to weeks for the current gold-standard, liquid culture.

Methods: In this study we performed side-by-side comparison of mycobacterial detection assays on sputum samples from 285 subjects presenting with symptoms suggestive of TB in The Gambia and a cross-sectional cohort of 156 confirmed TB patients with a median of 2 months of treatment.

Broad adaptive immune responses to M. tuberculosis antigens precede TST conversion in tuberculosis exposed household contacts in a TB-endemic setting.

Background: The identification of Mycobacterium-tuberculosis (Mtb) infected individuals remains a challenge due to an insufficient understanding of immune responses detected with the current diagnostic tests for latent tuberculosis i.e. the tuberculin skin test (TST) or IFN-γ release assays (IGRAs) and an inability to distinguish infection stages with current immunologic assays.