Search

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world, despite being a preventable and curable disease. The World Health OrganizationEnd-TB Strategy, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, sets a target of reducing the TB mortality rate by 95%, TB incidence rate by 90%, and catastrophic costs due to TB by 2035, compared with a 2015 level. To achieve these ambitious targets, several interventions have been implemented in the last few years, resulting in major progress toward reducing the burden of TB.

Dr Kefyalew Alene, who heads the Geospatial and Tuberculosis team at The Kids and is a senior research fellow within the Curtin School of Population Health, has used cutting edge technology to transform the way TB transmission is predicted, understood and managed globally.

The first global review of the effectiveness of current strategies to fight tuberculosis has found preventive therapy is the most effective intervention strategy.  

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) protects children from severe tuberculosis and remains the only licensed vaccine for tuberculosis. Subnational estimates of BCG coverage are essential for identifying underserved populations across Africa. This study aimed to map BCG vaccination coverage in Africa from 1990 to 2022. 

Health system and environmental factors play a significant role in achieving the World Health Organization End Tuberculosis (TB) targets. However, quantitative measures are scarce or non-existent at a global level. We aimed to measure the progress made towards meeting the global End TB milestones from 2015 to 2020 and identify health system and environmental factors contributing to the success.

o map subnational and local prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) across Africa. We assembled a geolocated dataset from 173 sources across 31 African countries, comprising drug susceptibility test results and covariate data from publicly available databases. We used Bayesian model-based geostatistical framework with multivariate Bayesian logistic regression model to estimate DR-TB prevalence at lower administrative levels.

While bacille-calmette-guerin (BCG) vaccination is one of the recommended strategies for preventing tuberculosis, its coverage is low in several countries, including Ethiopia. This study investigated the spatial co-distribution and drivers of TB prevalence and low BCG coverage in Ethiopia.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains a major public health challenge in China, with varying treatment outcomes across different regions. Understanding the spatial distribution of DR-TB treatment outcomes is crucial for targeted interventions to improve treatment success in high-burden areas such as Hunan Province. This study aimed to map the spatial distribution of DR-TB treatment outcomes at a local level and identify sociodemographic and environmental factors associated with poor treatment outcomes in Hunan Province, China.

Despite impacting mankind since ancient times, tuberculosis (TB) persists as the leading cause of death from an infectious disease. TB can remain latent and further research is required to understand activation risk and the risks vs. the benefits of treating latent infection. Drug resistance poses an escalating threat to treating active disease and achieving cure.

Diagnosis and treatment initiation delays for tuberculosis (TB) are significant challenges in resource-limited settings. These delays can result in poor treatment outcomes, disease transmission, and increased costs. This study aimed to assess the effect of integrating traditional care with modern healthcare systems on reducing TB diagnosis delay.