Monthly Archives: January 2013

Topic: Modelling TB transmission in Pollsmoor Prison, Cape Town

Johnstone-Robertson et al. Tuberculosis in a South African prison – a transmission modelling analysis. S Afr Med J 2011; 101: 809-813.

Presenter: Pete Dodd, CMMID, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Chair: Richard White, CMMID, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Time: 5.15pm til 6.15pm (drinks after), 11 February 2013

Venue: LG81, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street

Dudley Lee was detained in Pollsmoor Prison in 1999. His case took more than four years to make its way through the courts. By the time he was released in 2004, having been found innocent, he had acquired TB.

With crowded cells, poor ventilation, high HIV prevalence, and poor healthcare, South African prisons, unsurprisingly, have appalling TB control.

This modelling paper was cited in Dudley Lee’s successful claim in the Constitutional Court for compensation. It attempts to predict the likely impact of interventions, such as better case finding or improved ventilation, on TB transmission in the prison.

Join us to discuss the value and limits of mathematical models, activism, disadvantage, environmental health and TB control in high burden institutional settings.

The paper is available here.

Topic: Promising new regimens or studies of uncertain value?

Diacon et al. 14-day bactericidal activity of PA-824, bedaquiline, pyrazinamide, and moxifloxacin combinations: a randomised trial. Lancet 2012; 380: 986-93.

Presenter: Jurgens Peters, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Chair: Patrick Phillips, MRC Clinical Trials Unit

Time: 1:00-1.50 pm, 31 January 2013

Venue: Room 402,  MRC Clinical Trials Unit, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway

Directions: See http://www.ctu.mrc.ac.uk/about_us/contact_details.aspx. The entrance is opposite Holborn tube station and looks like the entrance to a church building.

* External attendees will need to wait at reception and be taken to the meeting room. If you plan to attend, please contact Patrick Phillips on ppp@ctu.mrc.ac.uk so that reception know who is expected. *

We urgently need better drugs for TB. This would allow for shorter first line therapy and treatment for drug resistant TB this is safer and more effective with patients experiencing fewer unpleasant side effects.

This paper describes interesting data on novel drugs and combinations that seem to exhibit good ‘early bactericidal activity’. These include a regimen that might work for MDR-TB.

With the FDA advisory committee recently recommending limited approval of Bedaquiline for MDR-TB on the basis of culture conversion data from Phase II studies, the use of surrogate outcomes is topical.

Join us to discuss the design and evaluation of new TB regimens, the value of surrogate outcomes, and the future of TB therapy.

The paper is available here.