Exploring the perspectives of healthcare workers and Program managers on the use of Truenat as a new tool for TB and DR-TB diagnosis in Nigeria: A qualitative study.

Background: World Health Organization in the year 2020 recommended the use of Truenat as a replacement for smear microscopy in Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and detection of rifampicin resistance. This study was designed to assess enablers and barriers to effective implementation of Truenat assays for TB diagnosis in Nigeria and determine the acceptability of use of Truenat among healthcare workers and TB Program managers in Nigeria.

Methods: A descriptive exploratory study design was used.

Acceptance and Completion Rates of 3-Month Isoniazid-Rifampicin (3HR) Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) Among Contacts of Bacteriologically Confirmed TB Patients-Patients' and Healthcare Workers' Perspectives.

Providing tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) to close contacts of persons with TB is a core strategy recommended by WHO for the prevention and control of TB. Nigeria rolled out the 3-month Isoniazid-Rifampicin (3HR) shorter regimen TPT as a pilot for use among eligible adult and child contacts. This study assesses acceptance and completion rates of 3HR TPT among contacts and determines the perspectives of healthcare workers (HCWs) and contacts on acceptance and completion of 3HR TPT in Nigeria.

The burden of subclinical TB in Nigeria.

Setting: This study is a retrospective review of a large-scale systematic TB screening project conducted in six states of Nigeria.

Objective: To determine the magnitude and characteristics of subclinical TB and the relative contributions of bacteriological versus clinical diagnosis in its identification in Nigeria.

Design: Data were retrospectively analysed from six states of Nigeria, where parallel screening with any TB symptoms and chest X-ray (CXR) with artificial intelligence (AI) was used for active case finding.

Perceived ease of use of Truenat among laboratory staff as a new diagnostic tool for TB in Nigeria: Result of a pilot roll-out.

In January 2020, WHO released a rapid communication on use of molecular assays as initial tests for diagnosis of tuberculosis, recommending Truenat as a replacement for smear microscopy in TB diagnosis. This study was designed to assess perceived ease of use of Truenat among Laboratory staff as a new diagnostic tool for TB in Nigeria. This study used a cross-sectional design.

Impact of Truenat on TB diagnosis in Nigeria.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of Truenat assays on the diagnosis of TB at peripheral facilities in Nigeria.

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study across 34 out of 38 Truenat-implementing facilities in Nigeria. These facilities offer DOTS services.

Impact of the Stool-Based Xpert Test on Childhood Tuberculosis Diagnosis in Selected States in Nigeria.

Background: In Nigeria, most children with tuberculosis (TB) present at primary health clinics where there are limited personnel skilled in collecting appropriate respiratory specimens from those who cannot produce sputum. KNCV Nigeria, in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis Control Program, implemented a modified simple, one-step (SOS), stool-based Xpert MTB/RIF method for diagnosis of TB in children who cannot expectorate sputum. We evaluated the impact of its implementation on childhood TB diagnosis.

Effectiveness of Using AI-Driven Hotspot Mapping for Active Case Finding of Tuberculosis in Southwestern Nigeria.

: Nigeria is among the top five countries that have the highest gap between people reported as diagnosed and estimated to have developed tuberculosis (TB). To bridge this gap, there is a need for innovative approaches to identify geographical areas at high risk of TB transmission and targeted active case finding (ACF) interventions. Leveraging community-level data together with granular sociodemographic contextual information can unmask local hotspots that could be otherwise missed.

Iterative evaluation of mobile computer-assisted digital chest x-ray screening for TB improves efficiency, yield, and outcomes in Nigeria.

Wellness on Wheels (WoW) is a model of mobile systematic tuberculosis (TB) screening of high-risk populations combining digital chest radiography with computer-aided automated detection (CAD) and chronic cough screening to identify presumptive TB clients in communities, health facilities, and prisons in Nigeria. The model evolves to address technical, political, and sustainability challenges. Screening methods were iteratively refined to balance TB yield and feasibility across heterogeneous populations.

Improving TB control: efficiencies of case-finding interventions in Nigeria.

Setting: KNCV Nigeria implements seven key TB case-finding interventions. It was critical to evaluate the efficiency of these interventions in terms of TB yield to direct future prioritisation in the country.

Objectives: To compare the efficiency of active case-finding (ACF) interventions for TB in Nigeria.

Identifying Hot Spots of Tuberculosis in Nigeria Using an Early Warning Outbreak Recognition System: Retrospective Analysis of Implications for Active Case Finding Interventions.

Background: Undiagnosed tuberculosis (TB) cases are the major challenge to TB control in Nigeria. An early warning outbreak recognition system (EWORS) is a system that is primarily used to detect infectious disease outbreaks; this system can be used as a case-based geospatial tool for the real-time identification of hot spot areas with clusters of TB patients. TB screening targeted at such hot spots should yield more TB cases than screening targeted at non-hot spots.

Portable digital X-ray for TB pre-diagnosis screening in rural communities in Nigeria.

Setting: This pilot project was conducted in hard-to-reach communities of two Niger Delta States in the South-South Region of Nigeria.

Objective: To assess the usefulness of portable digital X-ray, the Delft-Light Backpack (DLB) for TB active case-finding (ACF) in hard-to-reach Niger Delta communities using the WHO 3B TB screening/diagnosis algorithm.

Design: DLB X-ray was used to screen all consenting eligible participants during community TB screening out-reaches in all hard-to-reach communities of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.

Assessment of GeneXpert MTB/RIF Performance by Type and Level of Health-Care Facilities in Nigeria.

Setting: Nigeria adopted GeneXpert MTB Rif as a primary diagnostic tool were available and accessible since 2016. The current geographical coverage of GeneXpert machines by LGAs stands at 48%, with a varied access and utilization.

Objectives: To assess the association between the type and level of health facilities implementing GeneXpert MTB/Rif and performance outcome of the machines in Nigeria.

Unsuccessful Xpert MTB/RIF results: the Nigerian experience.

Nigeria, a high tuberculosis (TB) burden country. To study the rate, distribution and causes of unsuccessful Xpert MTB/RIF test outcomes, with the aim of identifying key areas that need to be strengthened for optimal performance of the assay. This was a retrospective analysis of data uploaded between January and December 2015 from Xpert facilities to the central server using GXAlert.

TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL IN SECURITY CHALLENGED STATES OF NORTH-EAST NIGERIA. ARE THERE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT?

Background: Nigeria in the past few years is faced with various security challenges in different parts of the country. The most severe in the last three years has been the crisis in northern Nigeria and specifically the north-eastern States, where three of the States have been under emergency rule for a year. Health care delivery system is usually one of the major casualties in a security challenged environment leading to unavailability or low utilization of services.