In addition to shedding light on what people actually die of, autopsies can also play an important role in helping us to better understand disease. Tiyese Jeranji unpacks tuberculosis-related autopsy research in the Western Cape and delves into some of the fascinating complexities of this branch of TB research. The post What we can learn about TB at the autopsy table appeared first on Spotlight ..read more

South Africa is at the forefront of TB control efforts, striving towards improved health outcomes, argues Dr Priashni Subrayen. The post Compassionate and comprehensive: How SA is approaching TB appeared first on Spotlight ..read more

World TB Day is marked in the same week that South Africa celebrates Human Rights Day. A human rights based approach to TB mirrors a public health approach, argue Ingrid Schoeman, Sasha Stevenson, Janet Giddy, Renier Coetzee, and Petula Pienaar. The post ‘Let’s unite to end TB’ – a community-led approach can help wipe out TB in SA appeared first on Spotlight ..read more

A massive and long-awaited study of an experimental tuberculosis vaccine has kicked off in South Africa. Marcus Low reports. The post Massive TB vaccine trial kicks off in SA – it could be the first TB vaccine in over a century appeared first on Spotlight ..read more

Tuberculosis can infect anyone. It is caused by bacteria and spreads through air and is very common in South Africa. Dr Janet Giddy shares how she deals with Mrs Worried - an anxious and fearful voice seeking advice when someone close to her, like her domestic worker, has been diagnosed with TB. The post Someone close to me has been diagnosed with TB – what should I do? appeared first on Spotlight ..read more

While three new tuberculosis (TB) medicines have been registered in South Africa over the last decade, TB treatment still comes with several side effects and requires taking multiple different medicines, typically for six or more months. The search for better TB medicines got a boost last week with the presentation of promising findings from a study conducted in South Africa on an experimental drug called quabodepistat. Elri Voigt reports on this and other TB studies presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver, Colorado. The post New TB drug shows ..read more

Tuberculosis (TB) preventive therapy has been transformed in recent years, with treatment duration having been cut from six or more months to just three or one. Progress in developing new treatments to prevent drug-resistant forms of TB has however lagged behind, especially in children. Elri Voigt unpacks findings from a major new TB prevention study presented at the Union World Conference on Lung Health last week and plans for another important preventive therapy trial set to start soon. The post Antibiotic slashes risk of drug-resistant TB in kids, finds major SA study appeared first on Spot ..read more

At the age of 19 Phumeza Tisile contracted multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. For four years she battled the disease, losing her hearing in the process. At one stage, a doctor told her to visit a priest and prepare her soul for death. Recently, Tisile (now 33) made it on to TIME magazine’s 2023 TIME100 Next list, as one of 100 emerging leaders round the world who are “shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership”. Sue Segar chatted to Tisile about her remarkable journey. The post Interview: “Someone had to do it”, says SA TB activist on Time 100 list appeared first on Spotl ..read more

Several of the world’s most important tuberculosis clinical trials of the last two decades were done in part or entirely in South Africa. Tiyese Jeranji chatted to some leading researchers about where the country’s clinical trial capacity comes from and what is needed to maintain and improve it. The post In-depth: SA’s remarkable TB clinical trial capacity appeared first on Spotlight ..read more

Dr Juli Switala (42) has treated children in Nigeria, helped fatally ill patients during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, and delivered babies at a hospital in Afghanistan against a backdrop of upheaval and violence. But nowhere cuts close to her heart quite like Brooklyn Chest – the tuberculosis (TB) hospital on Cape Town’s north-western fringes. Biénne Huisman chatted with Switala about her work in hospitals around the world, the challenges of treating kids with TB, and going for a run to get away from it all. The post Interview: “The situation is not going away,” says inspiring TB d ..read more