Longstanding Collaborative Tuberculosis Research toImprove Diagnosis and Treatment

To celebrate #WorldHealthDay this year, we are highlightingstories from our partnership to improve public health. 

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Disease cooperative tuberculosis (TB) research program with theHenan Provincial Bureau of Health in Henan, China, performs clinical researchto validate molecular diagnostics, bio-imaging techniques, and therapeuticapproaches to drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis.  U.S.scientists, in collaboration with clinical researchers in Henan, Shanghai, andSouth Africa, are conducting a clinical trial called Predict TB to assess astrategy to shorten TB treatment from 6 months to 4 months using radiographicand residual bacterial loads methods to predict effective cure.  If successful,this methodology could be applied to further shorten treatment using noveltherapeutic agents.  Shortened TB treatment will reduce costs, limitadverse effects, and may reduce the development of resistance due to improvedadherence.  These likely outcomes represent clear global health benefitsfor the fight against TB, which has special importance this year as countriesplan for the September 2018 UN Summit on Tuberculosis and its goal to eliminateTB worldwide.