Publications
Population-based resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates to pyrazinamide and fluoroquinolones: results from a multicountry surveillance project Institute of Tropical Medicine University of Antwerp
Background Pyrazinamide and fluoroquinolones are essential antituberculosis drugs in new rifampicin-sparing regimens. However, little information about the extent of resistance to these drugs at the population level is available.
Methods In a molecular epidemiology analysis, we used population-based surveys from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Pakistan, and South Africa to investigate resistance to pyrazinamide and fluoroquinolones ...
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment failure detection depends on monitoring interval and microbiological method Institute of Tropical Medicine
Debate persists about monitoring method (culture or smear) and interval (monthly or less frequently) during treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). We analysed existing data and estimated the effect of monitoring strategies on timing of failure detection.
We identified studies reporting microbiological response to MDR-TB treatment and solicited individual patient data from authors. Frailty survival models were used to ...
Community-supported self-administered tuberculosis treatment combined with active tuberculosis screening: a pilot experience in Conakry, Guinea Institute of Tropical Medicine
Directly observed treatment (DOT) for tuberculosis (TB) is recommended by the World Health Organization. However, DOT does not always meet patients' preferences, burdens health facilities, and is hard to implement in settings where access to healthcare services is regularly interrupted. A model addressing these limitations of DOT is community-supported self-administered treatment (CS-SAT), in which patients who self-administer TB treatment ...
Multidrug-resistant patients receiving treatment in Niger who are infected with M. tuberculosis Cameroon family convert faster in smear and culture than those with M. tuberculosis Ghana family University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine
Transcriptional adaptation of drug-tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis during treatment of human tuberculosis Institute of Tropical Medicine
BACKGROUND: Treatment initiation rapidly kills most drug-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but a bacterial subpopulation tolerates prolonged drug exposure. We evaluated drug-tolerant bacilli in human sputum by comparing messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of drug-tolerant bacilli that survive the early bactericidal phase with treatment-naive bacilli.
METHODS: M. tuberculosis gene expression was quantified via reverse-transcription ...
Knowledge, health seeking behavior and perceived stigma towards tuberculosis among tuberculosis suspects in a rural community in southwest Ethiopia Institute of Tropical Medicine
Tuberculosis and AIDS stigma among patients who delay seeking care for tuberculosis symptoms University of Antwerp
Newer diagnostics for tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis Institute of Tropical Medicine
Results at 30 months of a randomised trial of FDCs and separate drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis Institute of Tropical Medicine University of Antwerp
Study C was an open-label, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial of fixed-dose combination (FDC) or separate drugs given during the intensive phase of treatment to 1585 patients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis conducted at 11 sites in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Thirty months post-randomisation, the failure/relapse rates in the per protocol population were 7.4% of 591 patients on FDCs and 6.5% of 587 patients on separate ...