TLANTA — Repeat, routine testing for latent tuberculosis infection among patients receiving biologics is both costly and of low clinical value, according to findings presented at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting.

An updated version of the Xpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampin assay, known as Ultra, demonstrated high sensitivity in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis in children compared with traditional bacteriologic testing, according to research published in Pediatrics.

WASHINGTON — Children exposed to anti-TNF alpha in utero do not have a higher risk for developing tuberculosis following a Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week.

Data presented at ECCMID 2016 showed that a 24-week or longer regimen of Sirturo was well-tolerated and effective against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing have found tuberculin skin testing may be overestimating the prevalence of latent tuberculosis in China.

Alcohol consumption, high viral load and low CD4 cell count appeared to be independent risk factors for developing active tuberculosis in patients with HIV, according to a report published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Chemotherapy for tuberculosis resulted in significant reductions in anemia of inflammation, but had no effect on iron-deficiency anemia or multifactorial anemia, according to researchers from Cornell University.

Patients with HIV and tuberculosis were more likely to develop acquired rifampicin resistance when treated with a thrice-weekly tuberculosis treatment compared with patients not coinfected with HIV, according to researchers from the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in India.

A rapid molecular diagnostic test significantly reduced the time to treatment initiation in patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, new data suggest.

The treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis significantly increases the risk of acquired resistance to second-line drugs and upgrading the condition to extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, according to data from a new study.