16 May Viewpoint paper Lancet Inf Diseases

Posted at 18:51h in News, Publications by

Alignment of new tuberculosis drug regimens and drug susceptibility testing: a framework for action

This viewpoint paper addresses new priorities for drug susceptibility testing (DST) and surveillance now that new tuberculosis drug regimens are likely to be introduced in the coming years. It is a summary of the conclusions of an expert meeting held in October 2012 by the TB Diagnostic Forum (supported by the US National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), and at which Frank Cobelens deliverd the Keynote Presentation. It stresses the short-term need for rapid drug resistance assays, in particular for fluoroquinolones and pyrazinamide, for which assay developers will need better data about the molecular mechanisms of resistance. It also addresses testing algorithms for resource-limited settings where DST might not be appropriate for all patients with tuberculosis, and the use of surveillance data and mathematical modelling to help country stakeholders to design appropriate DST algorithms and to decide whether to change drug regimens.

 

Alignment of new tuberculosis drug regimens and drug susceptibility testing: a framework for action

Authors: William A Wells, Catharina C Boehme, Frank G J Cobelens, Colleen Daniels, David Dowdy, Elizabeth Gardiner, Jan Gheuens, Peter Kim, Michael E Kimerling, Barry Kreiswirth, Christian Lienhardt, Khisi Mdluli, Madhukar Pai, Mark D Perkins, Trevor Peter, Matteo Zignol, Alimuddin Zumla, Marco Schito

In: The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Early Online Publication, 24 March 2013, doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70025-2
Link to abstract: PubMed