Experiences in the introduction of bedaquiline pretomanid linezolid for drug-resistant tuberculosis in Kyrgyzstan.

Settings: In Kyrgyzstan, drug-resistant tuberculosis poses a significant challenge. Recognizing the potential of the BPaL regimen, the World Health Organization recommended its use for selected drug-resistant TB cases under operational research conditions in 2020.

Objective: This report presents experiences and results from the BPaL operational research under the LIFT-TB project in Kyrgyzstan.

Time to Treatment and Risk Factors for Unsuccessful Treatment Outcomes among People Who Started Second-Line Treatment for Rifampicin-Resistant or Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in the Kyrgyz Republic, 2021.

The Kyrgyz Republic is a high-burden country for rifampicin resistant/multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (RR/MDR-TB). TB control efforts rely on early diagnosis and initiation of people on effective regimens. We studied the interval from diagnosis of RR-TB to starting treatment and risk factors for unsuccessful outcomes among people who started RR/MDR-TB treatment in 2021.

Contact Tracing and Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy for Household Child Contacts of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in the Kyrgyz Republic: How Well Are We Doing?

Early identification, screening and investigation for tuberculosis (TB), and provision of TB preventive therapy (TPT), reduces risk of TB among child household contacts of pulmonary TB patients (index patients). A cohort study was conducted to describe the care cascade and timeliness of contact tracing and TPT initiation among child household contacts (aged < 15 years) of index patients initiated on TB treatment in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic during October 2021-September 2022. In the register, information on the number of child household contacts was available for 153 (18%) of 873 index patients.

"Together against Tuberculosis": Cascade of Care of Patients Referred by the Private Health Care Providers in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Until 2021, in the Kyrgyz Republic, tuberculosis (TB) was diagnosed and treated only in the public sector. With funding support of the STOP-TB partnership, the private providers in four regions of the country and Bishkek city were mapped, trained and incentivized to screen for and identify presumptive TB patients and refer them to the public facilities for diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we describe the cascade of care of such patients.

The survival rate of tuberculosis patients in HIV-treated cohort of 2008-2018 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Introduction: HIV/TB comorbidity is responsible for 1.6 million deaths worldwide. HIV/TB control and patients' survival are still among priorities of the national HIV and TB programs.

New approach for tuberculosis contact tracing implemented in the two regions of Kyrgyz Republic during 2017-2018.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) contact investigation as a proved approach for finding new TB cases, is not fully performed in Kyrgyzstan. In 2018, the country started aligning the National Guidelines for tracking contacts with the WHO recommendations by expanding the definition for TB index cases to all close contacts, regardless of their TB risk status.

Methodology: This cross-sectional census aimed to determine the active case detection changes among TB contacts after implementation of a new TB tracing strategy using the National Surveillance data.

Implementing contact tracing for tuberculosis in Kyrgyz Republic and risk factors for positivity using QuantiFERON-TB Gold plus.

Background: Effective active case finding (ACF) activities are essential for early identification of new cases of active tuberculosis (TB) and latent TB infection (LTBI). Accurate diagnostics as well as the ability to identify contacts at high risk of infection are essential for ACF, and have not been systematically reported from Central Asia. The objective was to implement a pilot ACF program to determine the prevalence and risk factors for LTBI and active TB among contacts of individuals with TB in Kyrgyz Republic using Quantiferon-TB Gold plus (QuantiFERON).