June 2013 By Colleen Daniels Currently, smear microscopy and mycobacterial culture are the most widely used diagnostic tests, but microscopy, though relatively fast, is too inaccurate—missing over half of cases1—while culture is accurate but slow, taking from two to eight…
July 2014 Back to basic science By Mike Frick The last year in tuberculosis (TB) vaccine research has demonstrated how setbacks can sometimes produce the potential for unexpected progress. Dominant hypotheses have yielded to new investigative directions, and unresolved questions…
July 2014 By Lindsay McKenna Introduction While the pediatric HIV drug pipeline has seen increased activity in recent years, the same cannot be said for pediatric TB. Adult-pediatric approval gaps remain an issue in HIV drug development, especially for children…
July 2014 By Erica Lessem Introduction After forty years without new approved drug classes, tuberculosis (TB) treatment has recently advanced with the approval of two new compounds to treat multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB): delamanid and bedaquiline.1,2,3 Yet with limited access to…
July 2014 By Colleen Daniels Accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is the gateway to treatment and—it is hoped—cure for people with latent TB infection (LTBI) or active TB disease. According to the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organization…
July 2015 By Mike Frick Call it a paradigm shift, a pivot, or a turn – tuberculosis (TB) vaccine research and development (R&D) is entering a period of basic science. After years of focusing on phase II clinical trials, some…
July 2015 By Mark Harrington That things just go on like this is the catastrophe. —Walter Benjamin1 Introduction Because of the lack of effective, accessible point-of-care (POC) tests for all forms of tuberculosis (TB), 1.5 million people die of this…
July 2015 By Lindsay McKenna Introduction Years of building advocacy and research capacity have finally brought about clinical research for children with tuberculosis (TB). While data gaps and delays between adult and pediatric approvals remain large, there is more activity…
July 2015 By Erica Lessem For decades, those living with tuberculosis (TB) and their providers have operated in conditions of scarcity and neglect: inadequate funding for programs and research, aging infrastructure and outdated technologies, limited scientific understanding, knowledge gaps on…
July 15, 2016 By Lindsay McKenna INTRODUCTION The roster of enrolling and planned pediatric tuberculosis (TB) treatment studies is growing. Emerging results from pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety studies continue to inform optimal dosing strategies in children and to highlight areas…