The safety of modified, all-oral shorter tuberculosis regimens in Armenia.

BACKGROUND: The implementation of modified, all-oral shorter regimens for treatment of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis has started in Armenia since August 2020 under the conditions of operational research. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of shorter regimens. METHODS: We evaluated cumulative incidence rates of serious adverse events, adverse events of grade 3 and greater and events resulting in treatment modifications or suspension for 52 study participants. RESULTS: A new, different pattern of adverse events emerged compared with the previous evaluations of drug safety of treatment for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis. Arthralgia (23.1%) and peripheral neuropathy (21.2%) took leading positions among the adverse events resulting in modifications of treatment. Some adverse events of interest (prolonged QT interval, elevated liver enzymes and anemia) remained relevant for the patients receiving new combinations of anti-TB drugs. The other adverse events (impaired hearing, acute kidney injury and hypokalemia) lost their significance for safety surveillance of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis treatment. One unexpected serious adverse event (lymphoproliferative skin lesion) brought to a "failed treatment" outcome. The other serious adverse event was anemia. CONCLUSION: The shorter regimens proved to be safe and effective for treatment of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis, but proper follow-up of adverse events is necessary.

Estimating Post-treatment Recurrence After Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment Among Patients With and Without Human Immunodeficiency Virus: The Impact of Assumptions About Death and Missing Follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Quantification of recurrence risk following successful treatment is crucial to evaluating regimens for multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant (MDR/RR) tuberculosis (TB). However, such analyses are complicated when some patients die or become lost during post-treatment follow-up. METHODS: We analyzed data on 1991 patients who successfully completed a longer MDR/RR-TB regimen containing bedaquiline and/or delamanid between 2015 and 2018 in 16 countries. Using 5 approaches for handling post-treatment deaths, we estimated 6-month post-treatment TB recurrence risk overall and by HIV status. We used inverse-probability weighting to account for patients with missing follow-up and investigated the impact of potential bias from excluding these patients without applying inverse-probability weights. RESULTS: The estimated TB recurrence risk was 7.4/1000 (95% credible interval: 3.3-12.8) when deaths were handled as non-recurrences and 7.6/1000 (3.3-13.0) when deaths were censored and inverse-probability weights were applied to account for the excluded deaths. The estimated risks of composite recurrence outcomes were 25.5 (15.3-38.1), 11.7 (6.4-18.2), and 8.6 (4.1-14.4) per 1000 for recurrence or (1) any death, (2) death with unknown or TB-related cause, or (3) TB-related death, respectively. Corresponding relative risks for HIV status varied in direction and magnitude. Exclusion of patients with missing follow-up without inverse-probability weighting had a small impact on estimates. CONCLUSIONS: The estimated 6-month TB recurrence risk was low, and the association with HIV status was inconclusive due to few recurrence events. Estimation of post-treatment recurrence will be enhanced by explicit assumptions about deaths and appropriate adjustment for missing follow-up data.

Estimating post-treatment recurrence after multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment among patients with and without HIV: the impact of assumptions about death and missing follow-up.

Background: Quantification of recurrence risk following successful treatment is crucial to evaluating regimens for multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant (MDR/RR) tuberculosis (TB). However, such analyses are complicated when some patients die or become lost during post-treatment-follow-up. Methods: We analyzed data on 1,991 patients who successfully completed a longer MDR/RR-TB regimen containing bedaquiline and/or delamanid between 2015 and 2018 in 16 countries. Using five approaches for handling post-treatment deaths, we estimated the six-month post-treatment TB recurrence risk overall, and by HIV status. We used inverse-probability-weighting to account for patients with missing follow-up and investigated the impact of potential bias from excluding these patients without applying inverse-probability weights. Results: The estimated TB recurrence risk was 6.6 per 1000 (95% confidence interval (CI):3.2,11.2) when deaths were handled as non-recurrences, and 6.7 per 1000 (95% CI:2.8,12.2) when deaths were censored and inverse-probability weights were applied to account for the excluded deaths. The estimated risk of composite recurrence outcomes were 24.2 (95% CI:14.1,37.0), 10.5 (95% CI:5.6,16.6), and 7.8 (95% CI:3.9,13.2) per 1000 for recurrence or 1) any death, 2) death with unknown or TB-related cause, 3) TB-related death, respectively. Corresponding relative risks for HIV status varied in direction and magnitude. Exclusion of patients with missing follow-up without inverse-probability-weighting had a small but apparent impact on estimates. Conclusion: The estimated six-month TB recurrence risk was low, and the association with HIV status was inconclusive due to few recurrence events. Estimation of post-treatment recurrence will be enhanced by explicit assumptions about deaths and appropriate adjustment for missing follow-up data.

Concomitant Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C With Direct-Acting Antivirals and Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Is Effective and Safe.

We assessed effectiveness and safety of concomitant chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Of 322 MDR-TB patients (19.4% HCV), 30 were treated concomitantly (23.3% human immunodeficiency virus-positive). Overall, 76.7% achieved HCV treatment success (95.8% among tested). One patient (3.3%) experienced a serious adverse event.

Culture Conversion in Patients Treated with Bedaquiline and/or Delamanid. A Prospective Multicountry Study.

Rationale: Bedaquiline and delamanid offer the possibility of more effective and less toxic treatment for multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB). With this treatment, however, some patients remain at high risk for an unfavorable treatment outcome. The endTB Observational Study is the largest multicountry cohort of patients with rifampin-resistant TB or MDR-TB treated in routine care with delamanid- and/or bedaquiline-containing regimens according to World Health Organization guidance.Objectives: We report the frequency of sputum culture conversion within 6 months of treatment initiation and the risk factors for nonconversion.Methods: We included patients with a positive baseline culture who initiated a first endTB regimen before April 2018. Two consecutive negative cultures collected 15 days or more apart constituted culture conversion. We used generalized mixed models to derive marginal predictions for the probability of culture conversion in key subgroups.Measurements and Main Results: A total of 1,109 patients initiated a multidrug treatment containing bedaquiline (63%), delamanid (27%), or both (10%). Of these, 939 (85%) experienced culture conversion within 6 months. In adjusted analyses, patients with HIV had a lower probability of conversion (0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.84) than patients without HIV (0.84; 95% CI, 0.79-0.90; P = 0.03). Patients with both cavitary disease and highly positive sputum smear had a lower probability of conversion (0.68; 95% CI, 0.57-0.79) relative to patients without either (0.89; 95% CI, 0.84-0.95; P = 0.0004). Hepatitis C infection, diabetes mellitus or glucose intolerance, and baseline resistance were not associated with conversion.Conclusions: Frequent sputum conversion in patients with rifampin-resistant TB or MDR-TB who were treated with bedaquiline and/or delamanid underscores the need for urgent expanded access to these drugs. There is a need to optimize treatment for patients with HIV and extensive disease.

High prevalence of infection and low incidence of disease in child contacts of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis: a prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to measure the prevalence and incidence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and tuberculosis (TB) disease in children in close contact with patients with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) in a country with high DR-TB prevalence. DESIGN AND SETTING: This is a prospective cohort study of paediatric contacts of adult patients with pulmonary DR-TB in Armenia. Children were screened using tuberculin skin test, interferon-gamma release assay and chest X-ray at the initial consultation, and were reassessed every 3-6 months for a period of 24 months. Children did not receive preventive treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence and incidence of LTBI and TB disease; factors associated with prevalent LTBI. RESULTS: At initial evaluation, 3 of the 150 children included were diagnosed with TB disease (2.0%). The prevalence of LTBI was 58.7%. The incidence of LTBI was 19.9 per 100 children per year, and was especially high during the first 6 months of follow-up (33.3 per 100 children per year). No additional cases with incident disease were diagnosed during follow-up. After adjustment, prevalent LTBI was significantly associated with the child's age, sleeping in the same house, higher household density, the index case's age, positive smear result and presence of lung cavities. CONCLUSIONS: Children in close contact with patients with DR-TB or in contact with very contagious patients had an increased risk of prevalent LTBI. Although none of the children developed TB disease during a 2-year follow-up period, screening for symptoms of TB disease, based on the prevalence of disease at recruitment, together with follow-up and repeated testing of non-infected contacts, is highly recommended in paediatric contacts of patients with DR-TB.