Use of an add-on dry powder inhaler (DPI) containing fixed doses of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and levofloxacin did not increase sputum conversion in patients receiving standard oral therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB); however, the combined antibiotic DPI did result in greater cough relief, according to study findings published in Pulmonary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

A new 60-minute point-of-care lateral flow assay featured the same sensitivity as mycobacterial culture in detecting tuberculosis meningitis (TBM) in adult patients with HIV, according to a study in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Ixekizumab, and other antibodies that target interleukin 17 monoclonal antibody (IL-17A), may reduce reactivations of tuberculosis in patients with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), according to a study research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

A sputum-based molecular testing strategy (GeneXpert MTB/RIF) was safe, feasible, easily adopted, and was associated with both clinical and economic benefits in guiding the discontinuation of respiratory isolation for patients undergoing evaluation for active tuberculosis (TB), according to findings from a prospective cohort study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

SAN DIEGO, October 06, 2017 — Malnutrition, increasing age, and negative tuberculin skin test (TST) results are factors that may weaken the immune system and subsequently increase in-hospital mortality in hospitalized people with tuberculosis (TB), according to results from a retrospective study presented at IDWeek 2017.