Bianca Sossen

We reference several ongoing clinical trials (which will hopefully still see their finish lines) and manage to have a positive impact on prevention/diagnosis/treatment of HIV-TB in the near future. Grateful to Mmamapudi Kubjane and Graeme Meintjes for their input and oversight 🙏🏼 (3/3).

Our “progress & challenges” feel like they exist in a completely different world now. But hopefully we can somehow hold onto our global targets of ending this awful disease.

😷We cover: Spectrum of TB in HIV, TB prevention tools, screening and diagnosis, treatment, and post TB disease in HIV (2/n)

Manuscript title reads “Tuberculosis and HIV co-infection: progress and challenges towards reducing incidence and mortality”

Grateful to have had the chance to put together an #IJID review paper on all things HIV-TB for #WorldTBDay 2025. It was written before the attacks on science in general, and on those living with HIV/TB in particular (1/n)

Looking at #CROI2025 program and seeing lots of withdrawn work, am assuming mainly from CDC folks who were presenting their work. Let that sink in, the CDC can’t present at one of the biggest HIV research conference in the world…this is what US research looks like now

A Meta-Analysis of Levofloxacin for Contacts of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Data from randomized trials evaluating the effectiveness of tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment for contacts of multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB are lacking. Two recently published randomized trials...

Nice to see VQUIN and TB-CHAMP finally out. Both studies evaluated levofloxacin (compared w/placebo) as preventive treatment for MDR TB contacts.
Meta-analysis showed 60% reduction: evidence.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Each study:
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

CID Journal Article title and authorship

Several years ago I worked on a HHC study, with a team of very smart people in the field of Asymptomatic TB. Excited to now share the first paper: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39692469/ 🤓 Diagnostic accuracy of Chest X-ray CAD Software for Detection of Prevalent and Incident TB in Household Contacts

So happy to have been a part of the

1st Africa Advanced TB Diagnostics Course

125+ participants from over 20 African countries

Collaboration between Wits University, NHLS, NICD, McGill University & Gates Foundation

While I might be biased on the topic choice, this was one of the most interesting panels I've heard - on the practical aspects (both opportunities and barriers) of TB diagnostic innovation from within Africa. Finally a 'Wanel' from the Global South 🎉

Published on This Day in 1981. Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia and Mucosal Candidiasis in Previously Healthy Homosexual Men — Evidence of a New Acquired Cellular Immunodeficiency An illustration showing the reproductive cycle of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and sites of action of the major classes of antiretroviral medications. The NEJM identity sits at the bottom.

On this day in 1981, a landmark paper in NEJM described four patients with evidence of immunodeficiency associated with PJP pneumonia, disseminated CMV, and Kaposi sarcoma. The disease would come to be known as HIV/AIDS. Revisit the paper: nej.md/41iekKD

#MedSky #IDSky

1st African Advanced TB diagnostics course in Joburg, S Africa 🇿🇦!

125 participants from over 20 African countries

Collaboration between @mcgill.ca & Wits University

Johannesburg skyline

So grateful for the chance to attend this incredible event in the TB diagnostics calendar, but on African soil 🇿🇦 Big reminder today that we have so many exciting TB tools available to us already, we just need to put them to better use - to find the patients that *we* are missing

The indirect effects of cytomegalovirus infection: mechanisms and consequences | Royal Society Discussion meeting organised by Professor Tom Yates and Professor Helen Payne on the indirect effects of cytomegalovirus infection.

CMV-ologists may be interested to know that a recording of our October meeting on indirect effects is now available on the @royalsociety.bsky.social website

royalsociety.org/science-even...

#IDSky #ViroSky #EpiSky #TxID

The hits just keep coming! GeneXpert can detect TB and RIF resistance in urine in people with HIV. This could be a huge step to #EndTB, if #Danaher would make GeneXpert accessible by lowering the price of their tests to $5. It's #TimeFor5

Important results for TB diagnosis in PWHIV!

Urine-Xpert Ultra for the diagnosis of #tuberculosis in people living with #HIV: a prospective, multicentre, diagnostic accuracy study

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Improving tuberculosis diagnosis in adults with HIV through Urine-Xpert Ultra

With linked commentary by Helen Rabie and Jantjie Taljaard 🙏🏼

grateful to everyone that contributed towards this project! Hopefully Urine Xpert Ultra will become accessible to more (in)patients soon

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

What a breath of fresh air to be excited by science on social media again 🤩🦋 And very excited to be able to use it to share this paper - adding to the evidence on Urine Xpert Ultra in adults with HIV: