Metatranscriptomics reveals diversity of symbiotic interaction and mechanisms of carbon exchange in the marine cyanolichen Lichina pygmaea.

Lichens are exemplar symbioses based upon carbon exchange between photobionts and their mycobiont hosts. Historically considered a two-way relationship, some lichen symbioses have been shown to contain multiple photobiont partners; however, the way in which these photobiont communities react to environmental change is poorly understood. Lichina pygmaea is a marine cyanolichen that inhabits rocky seashores where it is submerged in seawater during every tidal cycle. Recent work has indicated that L. pygmaea has a complex photobiont community including the cyanobionts Rivularia and Pleurocapsa. We performed rRNA-based metabarcoding and mRNA metatranscriptomics of the L. pygmaea holobiont at high and low tide to investigate community response to immersion in seawater. Carbon exchange in L. pygmaea is a dynamic process, influenced by both tidal cycle and the biology of the individual symbiotic components. The mycobiont and two cyanobiont partners exhibit distinct transcriptional responses to seawater hydration. Sugar-based compatible solutes produced by Rivularia and Pleurocapsa in response to seawater are a potential source of carbon to the mycobiont. We propose that extracellular processing of photobiont-derived polysaccharides is a fundamental step in carbon acquisition by L. pygmaea and is analogous to uptake of plant-derived carbon in ectomycorrhizal symbioses.

Contribution of Reinfection to Annual Rate of Tuberculosis Infection (ARI) and Incidence of Tuberculosis Disease.

BACKGROUND: Modeling studies have concluded that 60-80% of tuberculosis (TB) infections result from reinfection of previously infected persons. The annual rate of infection (ARI), a standard measure of the risk of TB infection in a community, may not accurately reflect the true risk of infection among previously infected persons. We constructed a model of infection and reinfection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis to explore the predictive accuracy of ARI and its effect on disease incidence. METHODS: We created a deterministic simulation of the progression from TB infection to disease and simulated the prevalence of TB infection at the beginning and end of a theoretical year of infection. We considered 10 disease prevalence scenarios ranging from 100/100 000 to 1000/100 000 in simulations where TB exposure probability was homogeneous across the whole simulated population or heterogeneously stratified into high-risk and low-risk groups. ARI values, rates of progression from infection to disease, and the effect of multiple reinfections were obtained from published studies. RESULTS: With homogeneous exposure risk, observed ARI values produced expected numbers of infections. However, when heterogeneous risk was introduced, observed ARI was seen to underestimate true ARI by 25-58%. Of the cases of TB disease that occurred, 36% were among previously infected persons when prevalence was 100/100 000, increasing to 79% of cases when prevalence was 1000/100 000. CONCLUSIONS: Measured ARI underestimates true ARI as a result of heterogeneous population mixing. The true force of infection in a community may be greater than previously appreciated. Hyperendemic communities likely contribute disproportionally to the global TB disease burden.

Estimation of the generation interval using pairwise relative transmission probabilities.

The generation interval (the time between infection of primary and secondary cases) and its often used proxy, the serial interval (the time between symptom onset of primary and secondary cases) are critical parameters in understanding infectious disease dynamics. Because it is difficult to determine who infected whom, these important outbreak characteristics are not well understood for many diseases. We present a novel method for estimating transmission intervals using surveillance or outbreak investigation data that, unlike existing methods, does not require a contact tracing data or pathogen whole genome sequence data on all cases. We start with an expectation maximization algorithm and incorporate relative transmission probabilities with noise reduction. We use simulations to show that our method can accurately estimate the generation interval distribution for diseases with different reproductive numbers, generation intervals, and mutation rates. We then apply our method to routinely collected surveillance data from Massachusetts (2010-2016) to estimate the serial interval of tuberculosis in this setting.

Multiple evolutionary transitions of reproductive strategies in a phylum of aquatic colonial invertebrates.

Parental care is considered crucial for the enhanced survival of offspring and evolutionary success of many metazoan groups. Most bryozoans incubate their young in brood chambers or intracoelomically. Based on the drastic morphological differences in incubation chambers across members of the order Cheilostomatida (class Gymnolaemata), multiple origins of incubation were predicted in this group. This hypothesis was tested by constructing a molecular phylogeny based on mitogenome data and nuclear rRNA genes 18S and 28S with the most complete sampling of taxa with various incubation devices to date. Ancestral character estimation suggested that distinct types of brood chambers evolved at least 10 times in Cheilostomatida. In Eucratea loricata and Aetea spp. brooding evolved unambiguously from a zygote-spawning ancestral state, as it probably did in Tendra zostericola, Neocheilostomata, and 'Carbasea' indivisa. In two further instances, brooders with different incubation chamber types, skeletal and non-skeletal, formed clades (Scruparia spp., Leiosalpinx australis) and (Catenicula corbulifera (Steginoporella spp. (Labioporella spp., Thalamoporella californica))), each also probably evolved from a zygote-spawning ancestral state. The modular nature of bryozoans probably contributed to the evolution of such a diverse array of embryonic incubation chambers, which included complex constructions made of polymorphic heterozooids, and maternal zooidal invaginations and outgrowths.

Incidence and Mortality of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in Ukraine: Analysis of National Surveillance Data.

BACKGROUND: Improved understanding of the epidemiology and mortality risk factors of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) may facilitate successful diagnosis and management. METHODS: We analyzed national surveillance data from Ukraine to characterize EPTB subtypes (ie, localized in different anatomic sites). We calculated annual reported incidence, stratified by age, sex, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. Using Cox regression, we estimated mortality risk factors. RESULTS: Between January 2015 and November 2018, 14 062 adults/adolescents (≥15 years) and 417 children (<15 years) had EPTB with or without concomitant pulmonary TB. The most commonly reported EPTB subtypes were pleural, peripheral lymph node, and osteoarticular. Most EPTB subtype notifications peaked at age 30-39 years and were higher in males. In adults/adolescents, most peripheral TB lymphadenitis, central nervous system (CNS) TB, and abdominal TB occurred in those with untreated HIV. CNS TB notifications in people without HIV peaked before age 5 years. Adults/adolescents with CNS TB (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 3.22; 95% CI: 2.89-3.60) and abdominal TB (aHR: 1.83; 95% CI: 1.59-2.11) were more likely to die than those with pulmonary TB. Children with CNS TB were more likely to die (aHR: 88.25; 95% CI: 43.49-179.10) than those with non-CNS TB. Among adults/adolescents, older age and HIV were associated with death. Rifampicin resistance was associated with mortality in pleural, peripheral lymph node, and CNS TB. CONCLUSIONS: We identified the most common EPTB subtypes by age and sex, patterns of EPTB disease by HIV status, and mortality risk factors. These findings can inform diagnosis and care for people with EPTB.

What Can Genetic Relatedness Tell Us About Risk Factors for Tuberculosis Transmission?

BACKGROUND: To stop tuberculosis (TB), the leading infectious cause of death globally, we need to better understand transmission risk factors. Although many studies have identified associations between individual-level covariates and pathogen genetic relatedness, few have identified characteristics of transmission pairs or explored how closely covariates associated with genetic relatedness mirror those associated with transmission. METHODS: We simulated a TB-like outbreak with pathogen genetic data and estimated odds ratios (ORs) to correlate each covariate and genetic relatedness. We used a naive Bayes approach to modify the genetic links and nonlinks to resemble the true links and nonlinks more closely and estimated modified ORs with this approach. We compared these two sets of ORs with the true ORs for transmission. Finally, we applied this method to TB data in Hamburg, Germany, and Massachusetts, USA, to find pair-level covariates associated with transmission. RESULTS: Using simulations, we found that associations between covariates and genetic relatedness had the same relative magnitudes and directions as the true associations with transmission, but biased absolute magnitudes. Modifying the genetic links and nonlinks reduced the bias and increased the confidence interval widths, more accurately capturing error. In Hamburg and Massachusetts, pairs were more likely to be probable transmission links if they lived in closer proximity, had a shorter time between observations, or had shared ethnicity, social risk factors, drug resistance, or genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a method to improve the use of genetic relatedness as a proxy for transmission, and aid in understanding TB transmission dynamics in low-burden settings.

Concordance of Drug-resistance Profiles Between Persons With Drug-resistant Tuberculosis and Their Household Contacts: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Household contacts of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) are at high risk for being infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and for developing TB disease. To guide regimen composition for the empirical treatment of TB infection and disease in these household contacts, we estimated drug-resistance profile concordance between index patients with drug-resistant TB and their household contacts. METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published through 24 July 2018 that reported resistance profiles of drug-resistant TB index cases and secondary cases within their households. Using a random-effects meta-analysis, we estimated resistance profile concordance, defined as the percentage of secondary cases whose M. tuberculosis strains were resistant to the same drugs as strains from their index cases. We also estimated isoniazid/rifampin concordance, defined as whether index and secondary cases had identical susceptibilities for isoniazid and rifampin only. RESULTS: We identified 33 eligible studies that evaluated resistance profile concordance between 484 secondary cases and their household index cases. Pooled resistance profile concordance was 54.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 40.7-67.6%; I2 = 85%). Pooled isoniazid/rifampin concordance was 82.6% (95% CI, 72.3-90.9%; I2 = 73%). Concordance estimates were similar in a subanalysis of 16 studies from high-TB-burden countries. There were insufficient data to perform a subanalysis among pediatric secondary cases. CONCLUSIONS: Household contacts of patients with drug-resistant TB should receive treatment for TB infection and disease that assumes that they, too, are infected with a drug-resistant M. tuberculosis strain. Whenever possible, drug susceptibility testing should be performed for secondary cases to optimize regimen composition.

Decentralized Care for Rifampin-Resistant Tuberculosis, Western Cape, South Africa.

In 2011, South Africa implemented a policy to decentralize treatment for rifampin-resistant tuberculosis (TB) to reduce durations of hospitalization and enable local treatment. We assessed policy implementation in Western Cape Province, where services expanded from 6 specialized TB hospitals to 406 facilities, by analyzing National Health Laboratory Service data on TB during 2012-2015. We calculated the percentage of patients who visited a TB hospital <1 year after rifampin-resistant TB diagnosis, the median duration of their hospitalizations, and the total distance between facilities visited. We assessed temporal changes with linear regression and stratified results by location. Of 2,878 patients, 65% were from Cape Town. In Cape Town, 29% visited a TB hospital; elsewhere, 68% visited a TB hospital. We found that hospitalizations and travel distances were shorter in Cape Town than in the surrounding areas.

Using Cure Models to Estimate the Serial Interval of Tuberculosis With Limited Follow-up.

Serial interval (SI), defined as the time between symptom onset in an infector and infectee pair, is commonly used to understand infectious diseases transmission. Slow progression to active disease, as well as the small percentage of individuals who will eventually develop active disease, complicate the estimation of the SI for tuberculosis (TB). In this paper, we showed via simulation studies that when there is credible information on the percentage of those who will develop TB disease following infection, a cure model, first introduced by Boag in 1949, should be used to estimate the SI for TB. This model includes a parameter in the likelihood function to account for the study population being composed of those who will have the event of interest and those who will never have the event. We estimated the SI for TB to be approximately 0.5 years for the United States and Canada (January 2002 to December 2006) and approximately 2.0 years for Brazil (March 2008 to June 2012), which might imply a higher occurrence of reinfection TB in a developing country like Brazil.

Clinical measurements performed during alfaxalone total intravenous anaesthesia for radiography and neurophysiological investigations in dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To describe clinically relevant, physiological measurements collected during a 3 hour duration of alfaxalone total intravenous anaesthesia. STUDY DESIGN: Case series. ANIMALS: A total of 112 client-owned middle-aged or older dogs. METHODS: Dogs were premedicated with intramuscular acepromazine (0.03 mg kg-1). Anaesthesia was induced and subsequently maintained for up to 3 hours with alfaxalone administered intravenously. Dogs breathed 100% oxygen via an endotracheal tube. Heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure were evaluated 30 minutes after administration of acepromazine and used as baseline values for comparisons of intra-anaesthetic data. Blood glucose was measured 1 week prior to anaesthesia and every hour during alfaxalone anaesthesia. Quality and duration of recovery were recorded. Mean data for physiological variables were compared over three time points-before induction of anaesthesia, for the first hour of anaesthesia and from 60 minutes to discontinuation of anaesthesia. RESULTS: Mean induction dose of alfaxalone was 1.4 mg kg-1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-1.5). Post induction apnoea for >60 seconds occurred in 13 (11.6%) dogs. Mean alfaxalone infusion rate during the first 60 minutes of anaesthesia was 0.099 mg kg-1 minute-1; mean infusion rate was 0.092 mg kg-1 minute-1 from 60 minutes until discontinuation of anaesthesia. Heart rate was well maintained; hypotension (mean arterial blood pressure < 60 mmHg) was encountered in 23 (21%) dogs. Blood glucose levels did not alter during anaesthesia. Median time between discontinuation of alfaxalone infusion and extubation was 17 (7-35 minutes), time to assuming sternal recumbency was 75 (58-110 minutes), and time to standing was 109 (88-140 minutes). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Alfaxalone infusion provided effective anaesthesia in this population. In a minority of cases, respiratory and haemodynamic support of the patient was required.

Using routinely collected laboratory data to identify high rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis burden communities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa: A retrospective spatiotemporal analysis.

BACKGROUND: South Africa has the highest tuberculosis incidence globally (781/100,000), with an estimated 4.3% of cases being rifampicin resistant (RR). Control and elimination strategies will require detailed spatial information to understand where drug-resistant tuberculosis exists and why it persists in those communities. We demonstrate a method to enable drug-resistant tuberculosis monitoring by identifying high-burden communities in the Western Cape Province using routinely collected laboratory data. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We retrospectively identified cases of microbiologically confirmed tuberculosis and RR-tuberculosis from all biological samples submitted for tuberculosis testing (n = 2,219,891) to the Western Cape National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) between January 1, 2008, and June 30, 2013. Because the NHLS database lacks unique patient identifiers, we performed a series of record-linking processes to match specimen records to individual patients. We counted an individual as having a single disease episode if their positive samples came from within two years of each other. Cases were aggregated by clinic location (n = 302) to estimate the percentage of tuberculosis cases with rifampicin resistance per clinic. We used inverse distance weighting (IDW) to produce heatmaps of the RR-tuberculosis percentage across the province. Regression was used to estimate annual changes in the RR-tuberculosis percentage by clinic, and estimated average size and direction of change was mapped. We identified 799,779 individuals who had specimens submitted from mappable clinics for testing, of whom 222,735 (27.8%) had microbiologically confirmed tuberculosis. The study population was 43% female, the median age was 36 years (IQR 27-44), and 10,255 (4.6%, 95% CI: 4.6-4.7) cases had documented rifampicin resistance. Among individuals with microbiologically confirmed tuberculosis, 8,947 (4.0%) had more than one disease episode during the study period. The percentage of tuberculosis cases with rifampicin resistance documented among these individuals was 11.4% (95% CI: 10.7-12.0). Overall, the percentage of tuberculosis cases that were RR-tuberculosis was spatially heterogeneous, ranging from 0% to 25% across the province. Our maps reveal significant yearly fluctuations in RR-tuberculosis percentages at several locations. Additionally, the directions of change over time in RR-tuberculosis percentage were not uniform. The main limitation of this study is the lack of unique patient identifiers in the NHLS database, rendering findings to be estimates reliant on the accuracy of the person-matching algorithm. CONCLUSIONS: Our maps reveal striking spatial and temporal heterogeneity in RR-tuberculosis percentages across this province. We demonstrate the potential to monitor RR-tuberculosis spatially and temporally with routinely collected laboratory data, enabling improved resource targeting and more rapid locally appropriate interventions.

Extensions to Bayesian generalized linear mixed effects models for household tuberculosis transmission.

Household contact studies, a mainstay of tuberculosis transmission research, often assume that tuberculosis-infected household contacts of an index case were infected within the household. However, strain genotyping has provided evidence against this assumption. Understanding the household versus community infection dynamic is essential for designing interventions. The misattribution of infection sources can also bias household transmission predictor estimates. We present a household-community transmission model that estimates the probability of community infection, that is, the probability that a household contact of an index case was actually infected from a source outside the home and simultaneously estimates transmission predictors. We show through simulation that our method accurately predicts the probability of community infection in several scenarios and that not accounting for community-acquired infection in household contact studies can bias risk factor estimates. Applying the model to data from Vitória, Brazil, produced household risk factor estimates similar to two other standard methods for age and sex. However, our model gave different estimates for sleeping proximity to index case and disease severity score. These results show that estimating both the probability of community infection and household transmission predictors is feasible and that standard tuberculosis transmission models likely underestimate the risk for two important transmission predictors. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Predictors of delayed care seeking for tuberculosis in southern India: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Reducing delay to accessing care is necessary to reduce the Tuberculosis (TB) burden in high incidence countries such as India. This study aimed to identify factors associated with delays in seeking care for TB in Southern India. METHODS: We analyzed data from newly diagnosed, smear-positive, culture-confirmed, pulmonary TB patients in the Regional Prospective Observational Research for TB (RePORT) cohort in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, India. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, symptom duration, and TB knowledge, among other factors. Delay was defined as cough ≥4 weeks before treatment initiation. Risky alcohol use was defined by the AUDIT-C score which incorporates information about regular alcohol use and binge drinking. TB knowledge was assessed by knowing transmission mode or potential curability. RESULTS: Of 501 TB patients, 369 (73.7%) subjects delayed seeking care. In multivariable analysis, risky alcohol use was significantly associated with delay (aOR 2.20, 95% CI: 1.31, 3.68). Delay was less likely in lower versus higher income groups (<3000 versus >10,000 rupees/month, aOR 0.31, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.78). TB knowledge was not significantly associated with delay. CONCLUSIONS: Local TB programs should consider that risky alcohol users may delay seeking care for TB. Further studies will be needed to determine why patients with higher income delay in seeking care.

Data for action: collection and use of local data to end tuberculosis.

Accelerating progress in the fight against tuberculosis will require a drastic shift from a strategy focused on control to one focused on elimination. Successful disease elimination campaigns are characterised by locally tailored responses that are informed by appropriate data. To develop such a response to tuberculosis, we suggest a three-step process that includes improved collection and use of existing programmatic data, collection of additional data (eg, geographic information, drug resistance, and risk factors) to inform tailored responses, and targeted collection of novel data (eg, sequencing data, targeted surveys, and contact investigations) to improve understanding of tuberculosis transmission dynamics. Development of a locally targeted response for tuberculosis will require substantial investment to reconfigure existing systems, coupled with additional empirical data to evaluate the effectiveness of specific approaches. Without adoption of an elimination strategy that uses local data to target hotspots of transmission, ambitious targets to end tuberculosis will almost certainly remain unmet.

Smear positivity in paediatric and adult tuberculosis: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis continues to rely on sputum smear microscopy in many settings. We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the percentage of children and adults with tuberculosis that are sputum smear positive. METHODS: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Global Health databases for studies that included both children and adults with all forms of active TB. The pooled percentages of children and adults with smear positive TB were estimated using the inverse variance heterogeneity model. This review was registered in the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42015015331. RESULTS: We identified 20 studies meeting our inclusion criteria that reported smear positivity for a total of 18,316 children and 162,574 adults from 14 countries. The pooled percentage of paediatric TB cases that were sputum smear positive was 6.8 % (95 % Confidence Interval (CI) 2.2-12.2 %), compared with 52.0 % (95 % CI 40.0-64.0 %) among adult cases. Eight studies reported data separately for children aged 0-4 and 5-14. The percentage of children aged 0-4 that were smear positive was 0.5 % (95 % CI 0.0-1.9 %), compared with 14.0 % (95 % CI 8.9-19.4 %) among children aged 5-14. CONCLUSIONS: Children, especially those aged 0-4, are much less likely to be sputum smear positive than adults. National TB programs relying on sputum smear for diagnosis are at risk of under-diagnosing and underestimating the burden of TB in children.

Incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis disease in children: systematic review and global estimates.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis threatens to reverse recent reductions in global tuberculosis incidence. Although children younger than 15 years constitute more than 25% of the worldwide population, the global incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis disease in children has never been quantified. We aimed to estimate the regional and global annual incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children. METHODS: We developed two models: one to estimate the setting-specific risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among child cases of tuberculosis, and a second to estimate the setting-specific incidence of tuberculosis disease in children. The model for risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among children with tuberculosis needed a systematic literature review. We multiplied the setting-specific estimates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis risk and tuberculosis incidence to estimate regional and global incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis disease in children in 2010. FINDINGS: We identified 3403 papers, of which 97 studies met inclusion criteria for the systematic review of risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. 31 studies reported the risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in both children and treatment-naive adults with tuberculosis and were used for evaluation of the linear association between multidrug-resistant disease risk in these two patient groups. We identified that the setting-specific risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was nearly identical in children and treatment-naive adults with tuberculosis, consistent with the assertion that multidrug-resistant disease in both groups reflects the local risk of transmitted multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. After application of these calculated risks, we estimated that around 999,792 (95% CI 937,877-1,055,414) children developed tuberculosis disease in 2010, of whom 31,948 (25,594-38,663) had multidrug-resistant disease. INTERPRETATION: Our estimates underscore that many cases of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis disease are not being detected in children. Future estimates can be refined as more and better tuberculosis data and new diagnostic instruments become available. FUNDING: US National Institutes of Health, the Helmut Wolfgang Schumann Fellowship in Preventive Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Norman E Zinberg Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, and the Doris and Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital.

On the spread and control of MDR-TB epidemics: an examination of trends in anti-tuberculosis drug resistance surveillance data.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) poses serious challenges for tuberculosis control in many settings, but trends of MDR-TB have been difficult to measure. METHODS: We analyzed surveillance and population-representative survey data collected worldwide by the World Health Organization between 1993 and 2012. We examined setting-specific patterns associated with linear trends in the estimated per capita rate of MDR-TB among new notified TB cases to generate hypotheses about factors associated with trends in the transmission of highly drug resistant tuberculosis. RESULTS: 59 countries and 39 sub-national settings had at least three years of data, but less than 10% of the population in the WHO-designated 27-high MDR-TB burden settings were in areas with sufficient data to track trends. Among settings in which the majority of MDR-TB was autochthonous, we found 10 settings with statistically significant linear trends in per capita rates of MDR-TB among new notified TB cases. Five of these settings had declining trends (Estonia, Latvia, Macao, Hong Kong, and Portugal) ranging from decreases of 3% to 14% annually, while five had increasing trends (four individual oblasts of the Russian Federation and Botswana) ranging from 14% to 20% annually. In unadjusted analysis, better surveillance indicators and higher GDP per capita were associated with declining MDR-TB, while a higher existing absolute burden of MDR-TB was associated with an increasing trend. CONCLUSIONS: Only a small fraction of countries in which the burden of MDR-TB is concentrated currently have sufficient surveillance data to estimate trends in drug-resistant TB. Where trend analysis was possible, smaller absolute burdens of MDR-TB and more robust surveillance systems were associated with declining per capita rates of MDR-TB among new notified cases.

High risk and rapid appearance of multidrug resistance during tuberculosis treatment in Moldova.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a serious problem in the former Soviet Union and may appear during TB treatment. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of, timing of and factors associated with MDR-TB diagnosis during TB treatment in Moldova, which was part of the former Soviet Union. We analysed data on 3 754 confirmed non-MDR-TB cases (between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2010) in the Moldovan TB surveillance database, where patients provided sputum specimens for drug-susceptibility testing, multiple times, during treatment. We estimated the percentage of individuals with confirmed baseline non-MDR-TB that were diagnosed with MDR-TB during treatment, documented the time at which MDR-TB was diagnosed, and used a failure-time model to identify factors associated with MDR-TB diagnosis. Between 7.2% and 9.2% of initially non-MDR-TB cases were diagnosed with MDR-TB during treatment. Half of these MDR-TB diagnoses occurred with 3 months of the initial diagnosis. An increased MDR-TB risk during treatment was associated with baseline resistance to first-line TB drugs (linear increase in risk per additional drug), previous incarceration and HIV co-infection. MDR can appear rapidly during TB treatment. Policy considerations should emphasise management during early treatment by increasing ambulatory TB treatment to prevent nosocomial transmission, and ensuring universal rapid diagnostics access to prevent acquisition and transmission of drug resistance.

Impact and cost-effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 self-testing strategies in schools: a multicountry modelling analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the most epidemiologically effective and cost-effective school-based SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detection rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) self-testing strategies among teachers and students. DESIGN: Mathematical modelling and economic evaluation. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Simulated school and community populations were parameterised to Brazil, Georgia and Zambia, with SARS-CoV-2 self-testing strategies targeted to teachers and students in primary and secondary schools under varying epidemic conditions. INTERVENTIONS: SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDT self-testing strategies for only teachers or teachers and students-only symptomatically or symptomatically and asymptomatically at 5%, 10%, 40% or 100% of schools at varying frequencies. OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcomes were assessed in terms of total infections and symptomatic days among teachers and students, as well as total infections and deaths within the community under the intervention compared with baseline. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for infections prevented among teachers and students. RESULTS: With respect to both the reduction in infections and total cost, symptomatic testing of all teachers and students appears to be the most cost-effective strategy. Symptomatic testing can prevent up to 69·3%, 64·5% and 75·5% of school infections in Brazil, Georgia and Zambia, respectively, depending on the epidemic conditions, with additional reductions in community infections. ICERs for symptomatic testing range from US$2 to US$19 per additional school infection averted as compared with symptomatic testing of teachers alone. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic testing of teachers and students has the potential to cost-effectively reduce a substantial number of school and community infections.

Implications of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: The largest recorded outbreak of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV), detected in Nigeria, provides a unique opportunity to analyze the pathogenicity of the virus, the clinical severity of the disease, and the effectiveness of control measures for cVDPVs as compared with wild-type poliovirus (WPV). METHODS: We identified cases of acute flaccid paralysis associated with fecal excretion of type 2 cVDPV, type 1 WPV, or type 3 WPV reported in Nigeria through routine surveillance from January 1, 2005, through June 30, 2009. The clinical characteristics of these cases, the clinical attack rates for each virus, and the effectiveness of oral polio vaccines in preventing paralysis from each virus were compared. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in the clinical severity of paralysis among the 278 cases of type 2 cVDPV, the 2323 cases of type 1 WPV, and the 1059 cases of type 3 WPV. The estimated average annual clinical attack rates of type 1 WPV, type 2 cVDPV, and type 3 WPV per 100,000 susceptible children under 5 years of age were 6.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.9 to 7.7), 2.7 (95% CI, 1.9 to 3.6), and 4.0 (95% CI, 3.4 to 4.7), respectively. The estimated effectiveness of trivalent oral polio vaccine against paralysis from type 2 cVDPV was 38% (95% CI, 15 to 54%) per dose, which was substantially higher than that against paralysis from type 1 WPV (13%; 95% CI, 8 to 18%), or type 3 WPV (20%; 95% CI, 12 to 26%). The more frequent use of serotype 1 and serotype 3 monovalent oral polio vaccines has resulted in improvements in vaccine-induced population immunity against these serotypes and in declines in immunity to type 2 cVDPV. CONCLUSIONS: The attack rate and severity of disease associated with the recent cVDPV identified in Nigeria are similar to those associated with WPV. International planning for the management of the risk of WPV, both before and after eradication, must include scenarios in which equally virulent and pathogenic cVDPVs could emerge.