Social-behavioral insights in understanding tuberculosis transmission pattern during the COVID-19 pandemic period in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The MyTBNet study protocol.

Many countries have reported increase of TB incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic period, which demands dire attention as it may threaten global effort to end TB transmission. Services, are among many others, were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic during the years 2020 and 2021; but its impact on the TB transmission is not well understood. This retrospective population-based molecular and epidemiological cohort study aims to determine the pattern of TB transmission in Kuala Lumpur (an area with high population density, moderate TB burden and high rates of COVID-19 cases) for the cohort of Pulmonary TB (PTB) cases notified from 2020 until 2021 and factors associated with clustering or clear epidemiologic linkage.

First evaluation of the performance of portable IGRA, QIAreach® QuantiFERON®-TB in intermediate TB incidence setting.

Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis infection (TBI) are the core elements of tuberculosis elimination. Interferon gamma release assays have advantages over the tuberculin skin test, although their implementation in low-resource settings is challenging. The performance of a novel digital lateral flow assay QIAreach® QuantiFERON®-TB (QIAreach QFT) against the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) assay was evaluated in an intermediate incidence setting (Malaysia) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in Malaysia.

Background: More than a year after its first appearance in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic is still on a rampage in many parts of the world. Although several vaccines have been approved for emergency use, the emergence and rapid spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants have sparked fears of vaccine failure due to immune evasion. Massive viral genome sequencing has been recommended to track the genetic changes that could lead to adverse consequences.

Surveillance of adverse events in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis: A global feasibility study.

The World Health Organization launched a global initiative, known as aDSM (active TB drug safety monitoring and management) to better describe the safety profile of new treatment regimens for drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in real-world settings. However, comprehensive surveillance is difficult to implement in several countries. The aim of the aDSM project is to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing national aDSM registers and to describe the type and the frequency of adverse events (AEs) associated with exposure to the new anti-TB drugs.

Impact of connecting tuberculosis directly observed therapy short-course with smoking cessation on health-related quality of life.

Background: With evolving evidence of association between tuberculosis (TB) and tobacco smoking, recommendations for the inclusion of tobacco cessation interventions in TB care are becoming increasingly important and more widely disseminated. Connecting TB and tobacco cessation interventions has been strongly advocated as this may yield better outcomes. However, no study has documented the impact of such connection on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

The SCIDOTS Project: evidence of benefits of an integrated tobacco cessation intervention in tuberculosis care on treatment outcomes.

Background: There is substantial evidence to support the association between tuberculosis (TB) and tobacco smoking and that the smoking-related immunological abnormalities in TB are reversible within six weeks of cessation. Therefore, connecting TB and tobacco cessation interventions may produce significant benefits and positively impact TB treatment outcomes. However, no study has extensively documented the evidence of benefits of such integration.

Tobacco use prevalence, knowledge, and attitudes among newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients in Penang State and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Background: There is sufficient evidence to conclude that tobacco smoking is strongly linked to tuberculosis (TB) and a large proportion of TB patients may be active smokers. In addition, a previous analysis has suggested that a considerable proportion of the global burden of TB may be attributable to smoking. However, there is paucity of information on the prevalence of tobacco smoking among TB patients in Malaysia.