Tuberculosis prevalence after 4 years of population-wide systematic TB symptom screening and universal testing and treatment for HIV in the HPTN 071 (PopART) community-randomised trial in Zambia and South Africa: A cross-sectional survey (TREATS).

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) prevalence remains persistently high in many settings, with new or expanded interventions required to achieve substantial reductions. The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 071 (PopART) community-randomised trial randomised 14 communities to receive the "PopART" intervention during 2014 to 2017 (7 arm A and 7 arm B communities) and 7 communities to receive standard-of-care (arm C). The intervention was delivered door-to-door by community HIV care providers (CHiPs) and included universal HIV testing, facilitated linkage to HIV care at government health clinics, and systematic TB symptom screening.

Optimising Xpert-Ultra and culture testing to reliably measure tuberculosis prevalence in the community: findings from surveys in Zambia and South Africa.

Objectives: Prevalence surveys remain the best way to assess the national tuberculosis (TB) burden in many countries. Challenges with using culture (the reference standard) for TB diagnosis in prevalence surveys have led to increasing use of molecular tests (Xpert assays), but discordance between these two tests has created problems for deciding which individuals have TB. We aimed to design an accurate diagnostic algorithm for TB prevalence surveys (TBPS) that limits the use of culture.

Prevalence of tuberculosis in Rwanda: Results of the first nationwide survey in 2012 yielded important lessons for TB control.

Background: Rwanda conducted a national tuberculosis (TB) prevalence survey to determine the magnitude of TB in the country and determine to what extent the national surveillance system captures all TB cases. In addition we measured the patient diagnostic rate, comparing the measured TB burden data with the routine surveillance data to gain insight into how well key population groups are being detected.

Methods: A national representative nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted in 73 clusters in 2012 whereby all enrolled participants (residents aged 15 years and above) were systematically screened for TB by symptoms and chest X-ray (CXR).

Prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Zimbabwe: A health facility-based cross-sectional survey.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of resistance to rifampicin alone; rifampicin and isoniazid, and second-line anti-TB drugs among sputum smear-positive tuberculosis patients in Zimbabwe.

Design: A health facility-based cross-sectional survey.

Results: In total, 1114 (87.

The Prevalence of Tuberculosis in Zambia: Results from the First National TB Prevalence Survey, 2013-2014.

Background: Tuberculosis in Zambia is a major public health problem, however the country does not have reliable baseline data on the TB prevalence for impact measurement; therefore it was among the priority countries identified by the World Health Organization to conduct a national TB prevalence survey.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of tuberculosis among the adult Zambian population aged 15 years and above, in 2013-2014.

Methods: A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted in 66 clusters across all the 10 provinces of Zambia.

TB-HIV co-infection in the Netherlands: estimating prevalence and under-reporting in national registration databases using a capture-recapture analysis.

Background: Knowledge of the HIV status in patients with tuberculosis (TB) and vice versa is crucial for proper individual patient management, while knowledge of the prevalence of co-infection guides preventive and therapeutic strategies. The aim of the study was to assess if national disease databases on TB and HIV are adequate sources to provide this information.

Methods: A two way capture-recapture analysis to assess the completeness of the registers, and to obtain the prevalence of TB-HIV co-infection in the Netherlands in the years 2002-2012.

Influence of sampling on clustering and associations with risk factors in the molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis.

Molecular epidemiologic studies may use genotypic clustering of isolates as an indicator of recent transmission. It has been shown that missing cases lead to underestimating clustering, and modelling studies suggested that they may also lead to underestimating odds ratios for clustering. Using a national, comprehensive database from the Netherlands covering 15 years between 1993 and 2007 and including over 12,000 patients and their isolates, the authors determined the effects of sampling at random, in time, and by geographic area.

The incubation period distribution of tuberculosis estimated with a molecular epidemiological approach.

Background: There is limited information on the distribution of incubation periods of tuberculosis (TB).

Methods: In The Netherlands, patients whose Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates have identical DNA fingerprints in the period 1993-2007 were interviewed to identify epidemiological links between cases. We determined the incubation period distribution in secondary cases.

Projection of the number of patients with tuberculosis in the Netherlands in 2030.

Background: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in The Netherlands has been declining for many years. For the purpose of planning future TB-control activities we estimated the number of TB patients in The Netherlands up to 2030.

Methods: Statistical modelling for 5-year age groups up to 2030 distinguishing among Dutch TB patients infected by a Dutch source (survival model), non-Dutch patients (projection of the proportion of culture-positive patients among first generation immigrants) and Dutch patients infected by a non-Dutch source (fixed relation with the number of non-Dutch patients).

Tuberculosis transmission by patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis in a large cohort in the Netherlands.

Background: Sputum smear microscopy is commonly used for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB). Although patients with sputum smear-negative TB are less infectious than patients with smear-positive TB, they also contribute to TB transmission. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of TB transmission events caused by patients with smear-negative pulmonary TB in The Netherlands.

Tuberculosis drug resistance and HIV infection, the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands during 1993-2001, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among newly diagnosed patients was more frequent in those with HIV coinfection (5/308, 1.6%) than in those with no HIV infection (39/646, 0.6%; adjusted odds ratio 3.

The impact of the HIV epidemic on tuberculosis transmission in Tanzania.

Objective: To assess the impact of the HIV epidemic on tuberculosis transmission in Tanzania by estimating the trend in annual risk of tuberculosis infection (ARTI) over the period 1983-2003.

Design: Tuberculin survey among school children aged 6-14 years, randomly selected by cluster sampling.

Methods: Primary outcome was the ARTI among children without a BCG vaccination scar.

Hepatotoxicity of rifampin-pyrazinamide and isoniazid preventive therapy and tuberculosis treatment.

Background: Severe liver injury has been attributed to preventive treatment of latent tuberculosis infection with a 2-month course of rifampin-pyrazinamide.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study in The Netherlands compared the hepatotoxicity of preventive treatment with rifampin-pyrazinamide with that of preventive treatment with isoniazid, and also with that of treatment for active tuberculosis containing at least isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide.

Results: Preventive treatment with rifampin-pyrazinamide caused severe hepatotoxicity more often than did preventive treatment with isoniazid (odds ratio [OR], 2.