The TBPod

Today we speak with Professor Justin Denholm about his work with the National TB Advisory Committee in Australia and the role whole genome sequencing (WGS) has in public health. Professor Denholm talks about how WGS is expanding the way we think about tuberculosis and how this WGS can bring us into a new age of TB elimination strategy. REFERENCES 1. Ferdinand, Angeline S., et al. "An implemen...

In this extraordinary episode we speak with renowned historian Professor Christoph Gradmann about the life and work of German physician Robert Koch. In this episode we look at how Koch came to discover tuberculosis and what it meant for the field of medicine in the late 19th century. REFERENCES: Gradmann, Christoph. "Robert Koch and the pressures of scientific research: tuberculosis and tuber...

Today we have the pleasure of speaking to both Professor Leonard (Respiratory physician and director of the sarcoidosis service for Manchester Foundation Trust) and Dr Montero (director of cellular pathology for Wythenshawe Hospital) about the complex interplay between these two illnesses and how best to approach complex patients with uncertain diagnosis of granulomatous disease. REFERENCES: Agraw...

Today I had the privilege of speak with Professor Christoph Lange, Secretary General of the Union, founding chairman of TBNet and is the clinical lead for the Unite4TB Consortium. Professor Lange spoke to us about where we're up to with our EndTB Goals. Professor Lange spoke about the significant barriers that remain, where our shortfalls have come, where our successes have arisen, and what e...

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr Emily MacLean about the exciting modern tests both commercially available and in research development for diagnosing tuberculosis. Emily talked to us about how GeneXpert has evolved and how we can get the most out of this amazing test but also about the extraordinary diagnostic tests being investigated at the moment from blood tests of host response to...

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr Geoff Eather from the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane about his work and research on TST and IGRA screening for tuberculosis. This was a fantastic experience to learn more about these incredibly common tests from an expert in this field of research. REFERENCES: Auguste, Peter, et al. "Comparing interferon-gamma release assays with tuberculi...

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to Hojoon Sohn, an associate professor in infectious disease epidemiologist at the Seoul National University College of Medicine. Hojoon is an expert in TB modelling and speaks to us about his research in decentralised models of testing. This was a fascinating podcast about an area of Tuberculosis not often encountered in the clinical sphere and Hojoon gives a...

Today we speak to Professor Jan-Willem Alffenaar from Westmead Hospital and the University of Sydney about Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Tuberculosis. Professor Alffenaar reviews the PK/PD issues with common TB medications, the strengths and weaknesses of TDM and how best to utilise TDM in the treatment of TB patients. REFERENCES 1) personalised dosing of TB drugs Clinical standards for the dosin...

Today we speak with Professor Jann-Yuan Wang, a clinician and researcher in Taiwan, about his work in latent tuberculosis. Professor Wang speaks about his experience using 3HP and the challenges of systemic drug reactions. Professor Wang talks about his research into predicting which patients will experience systemic drug reactions based on research algorithms of clinical characteristics, plasma d...

Drug Resistant TB is a growing problem with some exciting advances over the past decade. With the recent Rapid Communication from the WHO and the advent of the B-PALMS regimen, drug resistant TB is a changing and exciting field of tuberculosis around the world. In this episode Professor Greg Fox from the University of Sydney speaks with Dr Jack Callum about the latest changes in the treatment of D...

BCG has long been the only widely used vaccination strategy since it's initial use over 100 years ago. In high TB burden settings it is still recommended in children to protect against disseminated disease though the lasting protection offered by BCG vaccination has been poor at best. Today, Emeritus Professor Warwick Britton AO FAHMS from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney...

How does stigma impact treatment in tuberculosis? Has the COVID-19 pandemic enabled high income countries to commiserate with lower middle income countries who have high infectious disease burden? Are antimicrobials impacting the way some countries treat tuberculosis? Dr Paul Mason explores these questions while addressing other ethical issues in tuberculosis. Dr Paul Mason is an anthropologist wh...

Tuberculosis is a global health priority and a major cause of child and adolescent morbidity and mortality.  Approximately 1.5 million children and adolescents are infected with tuberculosis each year. Tuberculosis in children and adolescence is often overlooked by health providers and can be difficult to treat and diagnose. Professor Steve Graham will provide an overview of the current state of p...

Philipp is the co-head of the Burnet Institute Tuberculosis Elimination and Implementation Science Group. He is an infectious diseases specialist with more than 15 years of extensive clinical and public health experience, and over 10 years’ experience in the management of TB/HIV programs. He has worked as a TB/HIV advisor, and supported program implementation and research in a range of settings. H...

Dr Andrew Burke and Dr Ramdeep Bajwa discuss clinical cases consisting of rheumatoid arthritis, the risk of tuberculosis reactivation and management of tuberculosis. 

What are the broader issues for TB control at present? How has COVID-19 impacted TB programs? What are the longer term prospects for TB control over the coming decade in the post pandemic era? Dr James Trauer and Professor Guy Marks answer these questions and discuss the areas requiring focus. Guy Marks is a respiratory physician and epidemiologist and a public health physician. He is the Presiden...

What are the broader issues for TB control at the moment? How has COVID-19 impacted TB programs? What are the longer term prospects for TB control over the coming decade in the post pandemic era? Dr James Trauer and Professor Guy Marks answer these questions and discuss the areas requiring focus. Guy Marks is a respiratory physician and epidemiologist and a public health physician. He is the Presi...

Molecular testing in Tuberculosis (TB) is broad and complex.  Dr Andrew Burke and Dr Chris Coulter discuss the utility/ advantages of Ultra GeneExpert, different types of line probe assays and WGS/ NGS in the future. Dr Chris Coulter uses his expertise to explain these diagnostic tools for physicians, nurses, policy makers and public health professionals. Dr Chris Coulter is a Microbiologist, the...

What are the issues with active case finding? What is the trajectory and the way forward to obtain tangible differences in reducing TB globally? Professor Greg Fox and Dr Kavi Velen explore the answers to these  questions and discuss why active case finding has not shown the anticipated level of progress predicted by the literature and the World Health Organisation. Associate Professor Greg Fox a...

TB clinical presentation is complex. This is because TB may involve any tissue or organ, the severity of symptoms range from none to overwhelming, the tempo of the illness ranges from indolent to rapid, symptoms/ findings may be local or systematic, the presentation varies in immunocompromised and diagnostic tests such as TST or IGRA cannot provide an official diagnosis alone. Due to the complexit...

COVID-19 and TB respiratory illnesses share both significant similarities and differences. At first glance, the viruses appear to be very different infections. However, perhaps one of the most important similarities is how the infections affect communities epidemiologically. Dr James Trauer and Dr Anna Coussens discuss the similarities and differences between the two infections. Dr Anna Coussens i...

 TB is in the global top 10 leading causes of death in children under five. Migration and international travel have caused TB rates to have risen even in typically low burden countries. A child with infected TB may not have active disease. As a result, children are at risk of becoming reservoirs where TB may become reactivated in adulthood thus fuelling the future epidemic.   Professor Ben Marais...

Post TB lung disease is am important yet, difficult area to research. The number of those affected by post TB lung disease is unknown however, is thought to be significant. Additionally, those affected by post TB lung disease are associated with an increased burden of symptoms along with an economic cost. Dr Anthony Bryne discusses the importance of post TB lung disease. Dr Anthony Byrne is a thor...

Dr Kerry Viney from the Australian National University and Mr Neil Heron a Clinical Nurse Consultant from NSW Health TB Program, discuss the controversial yet, important topic on patient TB treatment adherence. 

What is latent tuberculosis infection? How does it affect patients? How should we treat it? These questions are addressed by Associate Professor Justin Denholm and Dr James Trauer in this podcast. Associate Professor Justin Denholm is the Medical Director of the Victorian Tuberculosis Program. Justin is an infectious diseases physician and ethicist, and is actively involved in clinical and public...