Considerations for biomarker-targeted intervention strategies for TB prevention

Current diagnostic tests for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection have low prognostic specificity for identifying individuals who will develop tuberculosis (TB) disease, making mass preventive therapy strategies targeting all MTB-infected individuals impractical in high-burden TB countries. Here we discuss general considerations for a risk-targeted test-and-treat strategy based on a highly specific transcriptomic biomarker that can identify individuals who are most likely to progress to active TB disease as well as individuals with TB disease who have not yet presented for medical care.

Source: Tuberculosis - November 22, 2017 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Andrew Fiore-Gartland, Lindsay N. Carpp, Kogieleum Naidoo, Ethan Thompson, Daniel E. Zak, Steve Self, Gavin Churchyard, Gerhard Walzl, Adam Penn-Nicholson, Thomas J. Scriba, Mark Hatherill Source Type: research