World TB Day

By Kelly E. Wroblewski, Manager - HIV, STD, TB, Hepatitis Programs, APHL

Every year approximately 2 million people worldwide die from tuberculosis-related disease. Yet TB prevention and control too often receives scant funding and limited attention from government officials, health professionals and the public.

Observed every March 24 to commemorate the date in 1882 when the bacterium that causes tuberculosis was first discovered, World TB Day affirms the critical role of public health laboratory scientists in controlling and preventing the disease.

Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released reports indicating that preliminary data shows a 10.6% decrease in reported TB cases in the United States over a one-year period from 2008 to 2009. While many factors, including potential underreporting, could have factored into this decrease, the numbers are still encouraging. Yet public health professionals know we must remain vigilant, for a decline in US funding led to a resurgence of TB cases in the nineties. Moreover, new drug-resistant strains of TB have emerged, making the disease increasingly deadly.

In 2009 APHL members made significant contributions to TB control efforts above and beyond their work in the laboratory. After several years of work by APHL members, the TB self assessment tool, Mycobacteriology: Assessing Your Laboratory, was revised and published in a new electronic format. Additionally, the TB Steering Committee developed and published a document, Core TB Services of Public Health Laboratories, which outlines the role of public health laboratories in TB diagnostics and surveillance.
Now planning is underway for the 6th National Conference on Laboratory Aspects of TB, which will be held in Atlanta, GA, June 21-22, 2010, in conjunction with the National TB Conference.

On this day dedicated to raising awareness of tuberculosis and enhancing prevention and control globally, APHL would like to recognize the members, colleagues and partners who persevere to combat this devastating disease.

National TB Conference

Representatives from US public health laboratorians have converged in Atlanta, GA, this week for the 2009 National TB Conference, June 15-18. The meeting, formerly known as the “National TB Controller’s Workshop,” examines topics of interest to TB controllers, nurses, physicians, researchers and laboratorians. More sessions for laboratorians have been added to this year’s program. Topics include rapid detection of TB in clinical specimens, case studies in implementing Interferon Gamma Release Assays (IGRAs), success stories in laboratory-program collaboration and molecular detection of drug resistant pathogens.

APHL’s electronic laboratory self-assessment tool, “Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Assessing Your Laboratory,” was discussed in a session on Monday presented by David Warshauer, PhD, D(ABMM), Deputy Director, Communicable Diseases, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. This tool gives public health, clinical and commercial TB laboratories a means to assess the quality of their TB practice and to institute quality improvement measures. The online assessment tool represents a significant improvement over the original tool published in 1995 as a spiral-bound notebook. Within a few weeks, laboratories will be able to employ the tool to locate the latest diagnostic technologies and apply this information to improve their operations. Look for the link here.