Environmental air sampling for detection and quantification of in clinical settings: Proof of concept.

Objective: Novel approaches are needed to understand and disrupt transmission. In this proof-of-concept study, we investigated the use of environmental air samplings to detect and quantify in different clinic settings in a high-burden area.

Design: Cross-sectional, environmental sampling.

Capture and visualization of live Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli from tuberculosis patient bioaerosols.

Interrupting transmission is an attractive anti-tuberculosis (TB) strategy but it remains underexplored owing to our poor understanding of the events surrounding transfer of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) between hosts. Determining when live, infectious Mtb bacilli are released and by whom has proven especially challenging. Consequently, transmission chains are inferred only retrospectively, when new cases are diagnosed.

Novel approach to estimate tuberculosis transmission in primary care clinics in sub-Saharan Africa: protocol of a prospective study.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) transmission is difficult to measure, and its drivers are not well understood. The effectiveness of infection control measures at healthcare clinics and the most appropriate intervention strategies to interrupt transmission are unclear. We propose a novel approach using clinical, environmental and position-tracking data to study the risk of TB transmission at primary care clinics in TB and HIV high burden settings in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Influence of HIV on the Evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

HIV significantly affects the immunological environment during tuberculosis coinfection, and therefore may influence the selective landscape upon which M. tuberculosis evolves. To test this hypothesis whole genome sequences were determined for 169 South African M.