Tuberculosis Case Detection and Guideline Adherence among Child Contacts in Switzerland: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Background: Children exposed to a tuberculosis (TB) index case are at risk of TB infection and disease.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the proportion of child contacts who developed TB infection or disease after exposure and to assess the diagnostic pathways and adherence to current guidelines.

Methods: Retrospective observational study including children ≤16 years of age who had contact to a TB index case between January 2019 and July 2021.

Clinical standards for drug-susceptible pulmonary TB.

The aim of these clinical standards is to provide guidance on 'best practice´ for diagnosis, treatment and management of drug-susceptible pulmonary TB (PTB). A panel of 54 global experts in the field of TB care, public health, microbiology, and pharmacology were identified; 46 participated in a Delphi process. A 5-point Likert scale was used to score draft standards.

Clinical standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB infection.

Tuberculosis (TB) preventive therapy (TPT) decreases the risk of developing TB disease and its associated morbidity and mortality. The aim of these clinical standards is to guide the assessment, management of TB infection (TBI) and implementation of TPT. A panel of global experts in the field of TB care was identified; 41 participated in a Delphi process.

Screening for Tuberculosis in Migrants: A Survey by the Global Tuberculosis Network.

Tuberculosis (TB) does not respect borders, and migration confounds global TB control and elimination. Systematic screening of immigrants from TB high burden settings and-to a lesser degree TB infection (TBI)-is recommended in most countries with a low incidence of TB. The aim of the study was to evaluate the views of a diverse group of international health professionals on TB management among migrants.

Defining Outcomes of Tuberculosis (Treatment): From the Past to the Future.

Untreated active tuberculosis (TB) has a very high long-term mortality. Treatment of TB reduces mortality dramatically and should maximize cure, preventing ongoing transmission and TB sequelae. However, predicting the risk of failure and relapse is crucial for the management of individual patients and for the evaluation of effectiveness of programs.

Surveillance of Employees of Swiss Federal Asylum Centres for Latent Tuberculosis Infection.

Background: Asylum seekers in Switzerland have to register in federal asylum centres (FACs) before formal permission to enter the country. Some of them may have active tuberculosis (TB), exposing fellow refugees and employees.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the risk of TB infection among employees of Swiss FACs.

Discovery and validation of a personalized risk predictor for incident tuberculosis in low transmission settings.

The risk of tuberculosis (TB) is variable among individuals with latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (LTBI), but validated estimates of personalized risk are lacking. In pooled data from 18 systematically identified cohort studies from 20 countries, including 80,468 individuals tested for LTBI, 5-year cumulative incident TB risk among people with untreated LTBI was 15.6% (95% confidence interval (CI), 8.

The diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI): currently available tests, future developments, and perspectives to eliminate tuberculosis (TB).

Introduction: Despite great efforts, tuberculosis (TB) is still a major public health threat worldwide. For decades, TB control programs have focused almost exclusively on infectious TB active cases.  However, it is evident that this strategy alone cannot achieve TB elimination.

Epidemic and pandemic viral infections: impact on tuberculosis and the lung: A consensus by the World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders (WAidid), Global Tuberculosis Network (GTN), and members of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Study Group for Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC).

Major epidemics, including some that qualify as pandemics, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), HIV, influenza A (H1N1)pdm/09 and most recently COVID-19, affect the lung. Tuberculosis (TB) remains the top infectious disease killer, but apart from syndemic TB/HIV little is known regarding the interaction of viral epidemics and pandemics with TB. The aim of this consensus-based document is to describe the effects of viral infections resulting in epidemics and pandemics that affect the lung (MERS, SARS, HIV, influenza A (H1N1)pdm/09 and COVID-19) and their interactions with TB.

Is the EU model for contact investigation applicable to high TB burden settings?

Contact investigation is the search for secondary cases of tuberculosis (TB) or latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among contacts of patients with a transmissible form of TB, usually smear-positive pulmonary disease. The aim is to detect those who have already started developing TB in order to initiate treatment as soon as possible and prevent further transmission of the disease, and also to detect those who have been infected and could benefit from a preventive treatment before the development of TB. The implementation of preventive therapy for persons with the highest risk of developing TB, that is the reduction of the pool of future cases of TB, is now considered one of the activities able to support a decline in the prevalence of TB.

Improvement in Tuberculosis Outcomes With a Combined Medical and Social Approach.

Studies performed locally in Switzerland in the late eighties reported unsatisfactory treatment outcomes. Better outcomes were observed since the introduction of directly observed therapy (DOT) in the late nineties and improvement in social support in recent years. retrospective study of treatment outcomes for all tuberculosis (TB) patients notified in Vaud County (VD), Switzerland, between, 1st of January 2010 and 31st of December of 2014.

Health-seeking behaviour and treatment delay in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Switzerland: some slip through the net.

Aims Of The Study: To assess the health-seeking behaviour, the patient delay (onset of symptoms to first consultation) and the health system delay (first consultation to start of tuberculosis treatment) among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) diagnosed in Switzerland, and to assess the predictors of the various types of delay.

Methods: A survey among pulmonary TB patients was carried out in six cantons, covering 42% of all pulmonary adult TB cases notified in Switzerland. Data were collected by collaborators of the cantonal lung associations in charge of the follow-up of TB patients to investigate treatment seeking behaviour and to establish various delays and its predictors.

Migration, TB control and elimination: Whom to screen and treat.

Tuberculosis (TB) in migrants represents an important clinical and public health threat, particularly in low TB incidence countries. The current review is aimed to assess issues related to screening and treatment of migrants with latent TB infection or TB disease.

Implementation of isoniazid preventive therapy in children aged under 5 years exposed to tuberculosis in Benin.

Settings: Two large tuberculosis (TB) centres under a well-functioning National TB Programme (NTP) in Benin, West Africa.

Objective: To assess the feasibility and results of integrating a programme of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) in children aged <5 years exposed to TB as part of the existing routine activities of the NTP.

Method: All children aged <5 years living in the household of a patient with smear-positive pulmonary TB were examined by a doctor and received IPT if no evidence of TB was detected.