Publications
Phylogenomics of Mycobacterium africanum reveals a new lineage and a complex evolutionary history Institute of Tropical Medicine
Human tuberculosis (TB) is caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). The MTBC comprises several humanadapted lineages known as M. tuberculosis sensu stricto, as well as two lineages (L5 and L6) traditionally referred to as Mycobacterium africanum. Strains of L5 and L6 are largely limited to West Africa for reasons unknown, and little is known of their genomic diversity, phylogeography and evolution. Here, we analysed ...
Assessing L. donovani skin parasite load: a proof of concept study of a microbiopsy device in an Indian setting Institute of Tropical Medicine
Background: In the endgame of the elimination initiative of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) on the Indian subcontinent, one of the main questions remaining is whether asymptomatically infected individuals also contribute to transmission. We piloted a minimally invasive microbiopsy device that could help answer this question. While the potential of this device has been previously illustrated in Ethiopia, no such information is available for the ...
Visceral leishmaniasis-HIV coinfection as a predictor of increased Leishmania transmission at the village level in Bihar, India Institute of Tropical Medicine
Background
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is on the verge of being eliminated as a public health problem in the Indian subcontinent. Although Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is recognized as an important reservoir of transmission, we hypothesized that VL patients co-infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) may also be important reservoirs of sustained leishmania transmission. We therefore investigated to what extent ...
Human rights: finding the right balance for rifampicin-resistant TB treatment Institute of Tropical Medicine
Deep amplicon sequencing for culture-free prediction of susceptibility or resistance to 13 anti-tuberculous drugs Institute of Tropical Medicine
Conventional molecular tests for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) drug resistance on clinical samples cover a limited set of mutations. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) typically requires culture.Here, we evaluated the Deeplex Myc-TB targeted deep-sequencing assay for prediction of resistance to 13 anti-tuberculous drugs/drug classes, directly applicable on sputum.With MTBC DNA tests, the limit of detection was 100-1000 ...
High rifampicin-resistant TB cure rates and prevention of severe ototoxicity after replacing the injectable by linezolid in early stage of hearing loss Institute of Tropical Medicine
The short treatment regimen (STR) achieves a >80% cure in rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) patients. However, ototoxicity induced by the injectable is a concern. This is the first study to evaluate the replacement of injectables by linezolid in patients with audiometry abnormalities at baseline or during the treatment.We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all RR-TB patients started on the STR between 2016 and June, 2019, in ...
Genetic diversity of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains from newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients in Northwest Ethiopia reveals a predominance of East-African-Indian and Euro-American lineages Institute of Tropical Medicine
OBJECTIVES: This study described the population structure of M. tuberculosis complex (MTBc) strains among patients with pulmonary or lymph node tuberculosis (TB) in Northwest Ethiopia and tested the performance of culture isolation and MPT64-based speciation for Lineage 7 (L7).
METHODS: Patients were recruited between April 2017 and June 2019 in North Gondar, Ethiopia. The MPT64 assay was used to confirm MTBc, and spoligotyping was used ...
A sister lineage of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex discovered in the African Great Lakes region Institute of Tropical Medicine
The human- and animal-adapted lineages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) are thought to have expanded from a common progenitor in Africa. However, the molecular events that accompanied this emergence remain largely unknown. Here, we describe two MTBC strains isolated from patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis, representing an as-yet-unknown lineage, named Lineage 8 (L8), seemingly restricted to the African Great Lakes ...
Evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex lineages and their role in an emerging threat of multidrug resistant tuberculosis in Bamako, Mali Institute of Tropical Medicine
In recent years Bamako has been faced with an emerging threat from multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Whole genome sequence analysis was performed on a subset of 76 isolates from a total of 208 isolates recovered from tuberculosis patients in Bamako, Mali between 2006 and 2012. Among the 76 patients, 61(80.3%) new cases and 15(19.7%) retreatment cases, 12 (16%) were infected by MDR-TB. The dominant lineage was the Euro-American lineage, Lineage ...