Solange Cavalcante

III Diretrizes para Tuberculose da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia

New scientific articles about tuberculosis (TB) are published daily worldwide. However, it is difficult for health care workers, overloaded with work, to stay abreast of the latest research findings and to discern which information can and should be used in their daily practice on assisting TB patients. The purpose of the III Brazilian Thoracic Association (BTA) Guidelines on TB is to critically review the most recent national and international scientific information on TB, presenting an updated text with the most current and useful tools against TB to health care workers in our country. The III BTA Guidelines on TB have been developed by the BTA Committee on TB and the TB Work Group, based on the text of the II BTA Guidelines on TB (2004). We reviewed the following databases: LILACS (SciELO) and PubMed (Medline). The level of evidence of the cited articles was determined, and 24 recommendations on TB have been evaluated, discussed by all of the members of the BTA Committee on TB and of the TB Work Group, and highlighted. The first version of the present Guidelines was posted on the BTA website and was available for public consultation for three weeks. Comments and critiques were evaluated. The level of scientific evidence of each reference was evaluated before its acceptance for use in the final text.

Management of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection: WHO guidelines for low tuberculosis burden countries

Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is characterised by the presence of immune responses to previously acquired Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection without clinical evidence of active tuberculosis (TB). Here we report evidence-based guidelines from the World Health Organization for a public health approach to the management of LTBI in high risk individuals in countries with high or middle upper income and TB incidence of <100 per 100 000 per year. The guidelines strongly recommend systematic testing and treatment of LTBI in people living with HIV, adult and child contacts of pulmonary TB cases, patients initiating anti-tumour necrosis factor treatment, patients receiving dialysis, patients preparing for organ or haematological transplantation, and patients with silicosis. In prisoners, healthcare workers, immigrants from high TB burden countries, homeless persons and illicit drug users, systematic testing and treatment of LTBI is conditionally recommended, according to TB epidemiology and resource availability. Either commercial interferon-gamma release assays or Mantoux tuberculin skin testing could be used to test for LTBI. Chest radiography should be performed before LTBI treatment to rule out active TB disease. Recommended treatment regimens for LTBI include: 6 or 9 month isoniazid; 12 week rifapentine plus isoniazid; 3–4 month isoniazid plus rifampicin; or 3–4 month rifampicin alone. Guidelines on LTBI for low TB incidence countries – essential element of the @WHO #EndTB strategy and TB elimination http://ow.ly/RW8xn

Effect of improved tuberculosis screening and isoniazid preventive therapy on incidence of tuberculosis and death in patients with HIV in clinics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a stepped wedge, cluster-randomised trial

BACKGROUND Preventive therapy for tuberculosis in patients with HIV is effective, but it has not been widely implemented in moderate or high-burden settings. We assessed the effect of widespread use of isoniazid preventive therapy on rates of tuberculosis and death in people with HIV in Brazil. METHODS We did a stepped wedge, cluster-randomised trial with patients actively enrolled in 29 HIV clinics in Rio de Janeiro. Clinic staff were trained in tuberculosis screening, use of tuberculin skin tests, and use of isoniazid preventive therapy. Clinics were randomly allocated a date to begin the intervention period, with two clinics beginning the intervention every 2 months starting from Sept 1, 2005. The primary outcome was tuberculosis incidence alone or combined with death in the control versus intervention periods until Aug 31, 2009. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00107887. RESULTS Of 17,413 patients in the cohort, 12,816 were eligible for the intervention. Overall, there were 475 tuberculosis cases and 838 deaths. The intervention increased the rate of patients receiving skin tests from 19 per 100 person-years to 59 per 100 person-years, and from 36 per 100 person-years to 144 per 100 person-years for those eligible for isoniazid preventive therapy. In the control period, 221 cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed (1.31 per 100 person-years) compared with 254 (1.10 per 100 person-years) in the intervention period (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.87; 95% CI 0.69-1.10). Rates of tuberculosis incidence or death were 3.64 and 3.04 per 100 person-years, respectively (0.76; 95% CI 0.66-0.87). When adjusted for age, sex, entry CD4 count, and use of antiretroviral therapy, the HR for tuberculosis was 0.73 (95% CI 0.54-0.99) and for tuberculosis or death was 0.69 (0.57-0.83). INTERPRETATION Operational training aimed at increasing tuberculosis screening, provision of tuberculin skin tests, and use of isoniazid preventive therapy in Brazilian HIV clinics significantly reduced incident tuberculosis and death. Thus, scale-up of preventive therapy for HIV-infected patients in settings of moderate tuberculosis incidence is achievable and should be widely implemented in Brazil and elsewhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Controlling the seedbeds of tuberculosis: diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis infection

The billions of people with latent tuberculosis infection serve as the seedbeds for future cases of active tuberculosis. Virtually all episodes of tuberculosis disease are preceded by a period of asymptomatic Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection; therefore, identifying infected individuals most likely to progress to disease and treating such subclinical infections to prevent future disease provides a crucial opportunity to interrupt tuberculosis transmission and reduce the global burden of tuberculosis disease. Programmes focusing on single strategies rather than comprehensive programmes that deliver an integrated arsenal for tuberculosis control might continue to struggle. Tuberculosis preventive therapy is a poorly used method that is essential for controlling the reservoirs of disease that drive the epidemic. Comprehensive control strategies that combine preventive therapy for the most high-risk populations and communities with improved case-finding and treatment, control of transmission, and health systems strengthening could ultimately lead to worldwide tuberculosis elimination. In this Series paper we outline challenges to implementation of preventive therapy and provide pragmatic suggestions for overcoming them. We further advocate for tuberculosis preventive therapy as the core of a renewed worldwide focus to implement a comprehensive epidemic control strategy that would reduce new tuberculosis cases to elimination targets. This strategy would be underpinned by accelerated research to further understand the biology of subclinical tuberculosis infections, develop novel diagnostics and drug regimens specifically for subclinical tuberculosis infection, strengthen health systems and community engagement, and enhance sustainable large scale implementation of preventive therapy programmes.

Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Culture for Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in HIV-Infected Brazilian Adults

Background Culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis currently represents the closest “gold standard” for diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), but operational data are scant on the impact and cost-effectiveness of TB culture for human immunodeficiency (HIV-) infected individuals in resource-limited settings. Methodology/Principal Findings We recorded costs, laboratory results, and dates of initiating TB therapy in a centralized TB culture program for HIV-infected patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, constructing a decision-analysis model to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of TB culture from the perspective of a public-sector TB control program. Of 217 TB suspects presenting between January 2006 and March 2008, 33 (15%) had culture-confirmed active tuberculosis; 23 (70%) were smear-negative. Among smear-negative, culture-positive patients, 6 (26%) began TB therapy before culture results were available, 11 (48%) began TB therapy after culture result availability, and 6 (26%) did not begin TB therapy within 180 days of presentation. The cost per negative culture was US

Long-term protection from isoniazid preventive therapy for tuberculosis in HIV-infected patients in a medium burden tuberculosis setting: the TB/HIV in Rio (THRio) Study

17.52 (solid media)–

The implementation of isoniazid preventive therapy in HIV clinics: the experience from the TB/HIV in Rio (THRio) Study

23.50 (liquid media). Per 1,000 TB suspects and compared with smear alone, TB culture with solid media would avert an estimated eight TB deaths (95% simulation interval [SI]: 4, 15) and 37 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (95% SI: 13, 76), at a cost of

Peculiarities of tuberculosis control in a scenario of urban violence in a disadvantaged community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

36 (95% SI:

AIDS-Related Tuberculosis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

25,

Estimating the extent of underreporting of mortality among HIV-infected individuals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

50) per TB suspect or