Covid-19 has pushed back our progress on tuberculosis, but we can claw back our gains when we work collaboratively and efficiently, writes Kelvin Vollenhoven and Neetha Morar.
Health boost: New TB testing strategy improves diagnosi dailymaverick.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymaverick.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dr Limakatso Lebina (bottom row) presenting to CROI 2021.
Screening everyone with HIV and others at high risk of tuberculosis for active TB increased diagnosis rates by 17% compared to testing people who had potential symptoms of TB such as cough and fever, Dr Limakatso Lebina of the University of Witwatersrand reported to the 2021 virtual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections this week.
TB is under-diagnosed in people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, where it remains the biggest killer of people with HIV. Around 150,000 cases of TB are missed each year in South Africa – almost half the entire burden – and these people die or transmit TB to others before their illness is detected.