A dataset of Solicited Cough Sound for Tuberculosis Triage Testing.

Cough is a common and commonly ignored symptom of lung disease. Cough is often perceived as difficult to quantify, frequently self-limiting, and non-specific. However, cough has a central role in the clinical detection of many lung diseases including tuberculosis (TB), which remains the leading infectious disease killer worldwide.

Tuberculosis case notifications and outcomes in Peruvian prisons prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national-level interrupted time series analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted tuberculosis (TB) programs, making it urgent to focus TB elimination efforts on key populations. People experiencing incarceration are at high risk for TB, however, how COVID-19-related disruptions have impacted incarcerated populations with TB is unknown.

Methods: Using Peruvian National TB Program data from Jan 2018 to Dec 2021, an interrupted time series of drug-susceptible (DS) TB case notifications pre- and during COVID-19 was conducted (cut-off date: COVID-19 emergency declaration in Peru, 16 March 2020).

Solicited Cough Sound Analysis for Tuberculosis Triage Testing: The CODA TB DREAM Challenge Dataset.

Cough is a common and commonly ignored symptom of lung disease. Cough is often perceived as difficult to quantify, frequently self-limiting, and non-specific. However, cough has a central role in the clinical detection of many lung diseases including tuberculosis (TB), which remains the leading infectious disease killer worldwide.

Adherence trajectory as an on-treatment risk indicator among drug-resistant TB patients in the Philippines.

Introduction: High levels of treatment adherence are critical for achieving optimal treatment outcomes among patients with tuberculosis (TB), especially for drug-resistant TB (DR TB). Current tools for identifying high-risk non-adherence are insufficient. Here, we apply trajectory analysis to characterize adherence behavior early in DR TB treatment and assess whether these patterns predict treatment outcomes.

Case fatality and recurrent tuberculosis among patients managed in the private sector: A cohort study in Patna, India.

Background: A key component of the WHO End TB Strategy is quality of care, for which case fatality is a critical marker. Half of India's nearly 3 million TB patients are treated in the highly unregulated private sector, yet little is known about the outcomes of these patients. Using a retrospective cohort design, we estimated the case fatality ratio (CFR) and rate of recurrent TB among patients managed in the private healthcare sector in Patna, India.

Tuberculosis case fatality in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: The WHO End TB Strategy calls for a global reduction in the case fatality ratio (CFR) below 5%. India accounts for a third of global tuberculosis (TB) deaths. This systematic review estimated CFRs among Indian patients with TB both during and after treatment.

Deep learning, computer-aided radiography reading for tuberculosis: a diagnostic accuracy study from a tertiary hospital in India.

In general, chest radiographs (CXR) have high sensitivity and moderate specificity for active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) screening when interpreted by human readers. However, they are challenging to scale due to hardware costs and the dearth of professionals available to interpret CXR in low-resource, high PTB burden settings. Recently, several computer-aided detection (CAD) programs have been developed to facilitate automated CXR interpretation.

Over-the-counter antibiotic dispensing by pharmacies: a standardised patient study in Udupi district, India.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a global health emergency, and one of the contributing factors is overuse and misuse of antibiotics. India is one of the world's largest consumers of antibiotics, and inappropriate use is potentially widespread. This study aimed to use standardised patients (SPs) to measure over-the-counter antibiotic dispensing in one region.

Cost and operational impact of promoting upfront GeneXpert MTB/RIF test referrals for presumptive pediatric tuberculosis patients in India.

Background: Outreach and promotion programs are essential to ensuring uptake of new public health interventions and guidelines. We assessed the costs and operation dynamics of outreach and promotion efforts for up front Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) testing for pediatric presumptive tuberculosis (TB) patients in four major Indian cities.

Methods: Xpert test costs were assessed as weighted average per-test costs based on the daily workload dynamics matched by test volume specific Xpert unit cost at each study site.

Knowledge about tuberculosis and infection prevention behavior: A nine city longitudinal study from India.

Background: Improving patients' tuberculosis (TB) knowledge is a salient component of TB control strategies. Patient knowledge of TB may encourage infection prevention behaviors and improve treatment adherence. The purpose of this study is to examine how TB knowledge and infection prevention behaviors change over the course of treatment.

Upfront Xpert MTB/RIF testing on various specimen types for presumptive infant TB cases for early and appropriate treatment initiation.

Background: Diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in infants is challenging due to non-specific clinical presentations of the disease in this age-group and low sensitivity of widely available TB diagnostic tools, which in turn delays prompt access to TB treatment. Upfront access to Xpert/MTB RIF (Xpert) testing, a highly sensitive and specific rapid diagnostic tool, could potentially address some of these challenges. Under the current project, we assessed the utility and feasibility of applying upfront Xpert for diagnosis of tuberculosis in infants, including for testing of non-sputum specimens.

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus amongst hospitalized tuberculosis patients at an Indian tertiary care center: A descriptive analysis.

Background: India has a high prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) as well as diabetes mellitus (DM). DM is a chronic disease caused by deficiency of insulin production by the pancreas. The risk of TB amongst DM patients is three times higher than those without.

A bibliometric analysis of tuberculosis research, 2007-2016.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) research is a key component of the End TB Strategy. To track research output, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of TB research from the past decade.

Methods: The Web of Science database was searched for publications from January 2007 to December 2016 with "tuberculosis" in the title.

Accelerating access to quality TB care for pediatric TB cases through better diagnostic strategy in four major cities of India.

Background: Diagnosis of TB in children is challenging, and is largely based on positive history of contact with a TB case, clinical and radiological findings, often without microbiological confirmation. Diagnostic efforts are also undermined by challenges in specimen collection and the limited availability of high sensitivity, rapid diagnostic tests that can be applied with a quick turnaround time. The current project was undertaken in four major cities of India to address TB diagnostic challenges in pediatric population, by offering free of cost Xpert testing to pediatric presumptive TB cases, thereby paving the way for better TB care.

Performance of the Xpert HIV-1 Viral Load Assay: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Viral load (VL) is the preferred treatment-monitoring approach for HIV-positive patients. However, more rapid, near-patient, and low-complexity assays are needed to scale up VL testing. The Xpert HIV-1 VL assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) is a new, automated molecular test, and it can leverage the GeneXpert systems that are being used widely for tuberculosis diagnosis.