Group | Clinical TB Research
Despite progress in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), TB remains a major global health problem. Innovative, high-quality research is needed to combat this poverty-related disease, which primarily affects the most vulnerable.
The mission of our Clinical TB Research Group is to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of TB and its comorbidities especially in high-burden countries. Our portfolio includes clinical trials, intervention studies, translational research and epidemiological studies.
Lines of research
The focus of our research activities is on the following areas:
- Community-based active case finding strategies for TB
- Clinical evaluation of new tools against TB with emphasis on diagnostics and biomarkers
- Host-directed therapies for TB
- Molecular epidemiology
- TB comorbidities
Klaus Reither
, PD Dr. med. et phil.
Group Leader
+41612848967
klaus.reither@swisstph.ch
Partners
Key Projects
TB Triage+ Community-based tuberculosis triage testing for hard-to-reach populations in Southern Africa
Tuberculosis is a poverty-related disease which particularly affects vulnerable and underserved populations. WHO has developed target product profiles for community-based TB triage testing. CAD4TB, an extensively validated digital chest x-ray analysis platform using deep-learning technology, and a blood test for C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation or infection, are two very promising diagnostic tools which have the potential to meet the targets for TB triage. Read more
MistraL - Mitigation strategies for communities with COVID-19 transmission in Lesotho using artificial intelligence on chest x-rays and novel rapid diagnostic tests
For mitigation strategies to be effective and efficient against COVID-19, they must be context-specific and take local conditions into account. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, limited resources and fragile healthcare systems often dictate what is feasible. In this project, researchers combine artificial intelligence, portable chest X-ray machines and antigen-based diagnostic tests to enable and improve diagnosis of COVID-19 patients in settings with limited resources. Read more
TB-CAPT - Facilitating implementation of TB testing
TB-CAPT (Close the gap, increase Access, Provide adequate Therapy) will provide evidence for impactful implementation of tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV co-infection diagnostic strategies including drug-susceptibility testing through a series of trials in Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa. TB-CAPT is funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and will run for 3.5 years, with planned completion in 2023. Read more
Further Projects
Latest Publications
All PublicationsBresser M et al. Evaluation of COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic tests for self-testing in Lesotho and Zambia. PLoS One. 2024;19(2):e0280105. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280105
Erhardt R.M et al. Obstetric outcomes of eritrean immigrants in switzerland: a comparative study. Int J Public Health. 2024;69:1606745. DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1606745
Hiza H et al. Bacterial diversity dominates variable macrophage responses of tuberculosis patients in Tanzania. Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):9287. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60001-0
Keter A.K et al. Simultaneous alleviation of verification and reference standard biases in a community-based tuberculosis screening study using Bayesian latent class analysis. PLoS One. 2024;19(6):e0305126. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305126
Oakley R et al. Status of zoonotic disease research in refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people, globally: a scoping review of forty clinically important zoonotic pathogens. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024;18(5):e0012164. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012164