4th Congress of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

There have been alarming increases in cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB), including extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB), especially in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Timely identification of patients with drug resistant TB is necessary to decrease morbidity and mortality and interrupt transmission of resistant strains. However, TB culture and drug susceptibility testing (DST) on solid media require up to two months or more for results. Recently, rapid DST methods that significantly reduce time to results have been developed and are being implemented. The FIND-BD-Hain symposium presented information on the relationship between rifampin resistance and rates of MDR and XDR TB, discussed new, rapid tests for the diagnosis of drug resistant TB, and described FIND-supported large-scale demonstration projects of rapid assays for MDR TB.

Does rifampicin resistance reliably predict MDR-TB? Results from the Global Project [pdf 139kb]
Dr. Abigail Wright (Technical Officer, HTM/STB/THD, WHO)

Rapid culture-based systems for TB drug susceptibility testing [pdf 1.6mb]
Juan Carlos Palomino, Ph.D. (Mycobacteriology Unit Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium)

FIND-IUATLD Symposium: Rapid detection of MDR TB by molecular assays [pdf 1.4mb]
Professor Francis Drobniewski (Director Health Protection Agency National Mycobacterium Reference Unit, Head Clinical TB and HIV Group, Center for Infectious Diseases, Institute for Cell and Molecular Sciences, Barts and the London School of Medicine)

FIND Demonstration projects of rapid assays for MDR-TB [pdf 1.7mb]
Dr. Heidi Albert (Scientific Officer, FIND)