Vanderbilt TB Center News

“Data quality assessment of a South African electronic registry for drug-resistant TB, 2015-2016”

Dr. Yuri F. van der Heijden has just received a 5-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) entitled, “Poor Treatment Response and Outcomes in Bedaquiline-Based Treatment Regimens for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa” (R01AI158605-01). This was in response to PA-20-185.

The Metro Public Health Department (MPHD) is marking World TB Day on March 24 by lighting the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge RED, highlighting identification and treatment efforts to end Tuberculosis. Don't forget to drive by the bridge on March 24! See The Press Release here!

The TB Center Annual Report from FY 2020 has now been published, detailing Center activities, research, and funding for the 2020 fiscal year. See the link below to download the full report. We look forward to continued progress toward our research goals in the current year.

Results from Study 31/A5349 were presented today at the Union World Conference on Lung Health. This study was conducted internationally through the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC) and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) with funding from the CDC and NIH. Vanderbilt University Medical Center/Nashville Metro Public Health is a participating TBTC site, though did not enroll patients into this trial. April Pettit, VUMC faculty member, was a member of the protocol team. From the CDC Press Release:

"Knowledge and Stigma of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Brazil: Implications for Tuberculosis Prevention Strategies"

Al Leslie, Farina Karim and Lerato Ndlovu, from the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) visited VUMC between March 2nd and March 6th, 2020. The VTC partners with the Durban site (AHRI) of the RePORT-South Africa network.

The TB Center Annual Report from FY 2019 has now been published, detailing Center activities, research, and funding for the 2019 fiscal year. See the link below to download the full report. We look forward to continued progress toward our research goals in the current year.

Dr. Timothy Sterling recently participated in Occupational Health's Wellcast podcast, discussing "What is Latent TB Infection?" During the podcast, Dr. Sterling discusses what is LTBI, diagnostic tests for LTBI, treatment options and why it's important to get treated. The Occupational Health Clinic performs a lot of TB testing for VUMC employees, and we hope this information is relevant to those wanting to know more about latent TB infection.

Updated guidelines for the treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI) have recently been published by the National TB Controllers Association (NTCA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Comprehensive guidelines for treatment of LTBI among persons living in the United States were last published in 2000, and since then, several new regimens have been evaluated in clinical trials.

Volunteer Opportunity from Jon Warkentin and Dick Brostrom: The Chuuk State Department of Health Services will soon begin an island-wide TB screening and treatment project. The goal is to identify, evaluate and treat both active and latent TB infection (LTBI) cases among adults and children living on Weno, Tol, and Polle islands. Our 30-week project will take place between March and September 2020, with follow-up and treatment teams continuing to work until October 2020. To learn more about this opportunity, please attend the webinar:

The Metro Nashville Public Health TB Program has enrolled its first patients into a new clinical trial for latent TB infection. This trial is led by Dr. Timothy Sterling with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC).