ATS PITB Assembly

Presenter: Mansi Chaturvedi, MD (Univ. of Maryland/NIH)
Moderator: Jerry Zifodya, MD, MPH, TM (Tulane)
Experts: Celso Khosa, PhD (Instituto Nacional de Saúde) & Brian Allwood, MD (Stellenbosch Univ/Tygerberg Hospital, South Africa)

🔥Mark your calendars!🔥
@ats-pitb.bsky.social is hosting a🌲PINE🌲Webinar on Post-TB Lung Disease 🫁
Case-based discussion, diagnosis & treatment with 🌍 global experts!
📅 Tue Oct 28 10AM ET
🗒️Register Here: bit.ly/47X6auu
#TB @atscommunity.bsky.social @theunion.org @btsrespiratory.bsky.social

Great honor to welcome Dr. Charles Dela Cruz, past @ats-pitb.bsky.social Chair, to @tulanemedicine.bsky.social today! He is giving an outstanding talk on COVID-19 and interferons—sharing deep insights into pathogenesis and host responses. #COVID19 #Interferons #ATS

Bedaquiline, delamanid, linezolid, and clofazimine for rifampicin-resistant and fluoroquinolone-resistant tuberculosis (endTB-Q): an open-label, multicentre, stratified, non-inferiority, randomised, c... The shortened BDLC strategy was not non-inferior to the control. Accumulating evidence suggests that this patient population might require longer, reinforced regimens.

Bedaquiline, delamanid, linezolid, and clofazimine for rifampicin-resistant and fluoroquinolone-resistant tuberculosis (endTB-Q): an open-label, multicentre, stratified, non-inferiority, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial - The Lancet Respiratory Medicine www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

🚨 ATS Workshop Report on non-invasive sampling of the lower respiratory tract: Experts highlight how to tailor your testing and make non-invasive testing fast, reproducible, and scalable. #PulmCCM #ATSworkshop buff.ly/i2qobaA

🚨 New 2025 ATS guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia! Key change:

Empiric antibiotics are suggested for adults hospitalized with clinical and imaging evidence of CAP—whether non-severe or severe—who test positive for a respiratory virus.

doi.org/10.1164/rccm...

📣Calling all assembly members!📣 Help shape the future of the ATS by nominating a colleague for a leadership position within your assembly. We're accepting nominations for a variety of positions!

Submit your nominations before Sept. 4! surveymonkey.com/r/YHQFMGZ

Phase 3 Trial of the DPP-1 Inhibitor Brensocatib in Bronchiectasis | NEJM In bronchiectasis, neutrophilic inflammation is associated with an increased risk of exacerbations and disease progression. Brensocatib, an oral, reversible inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase 1 (DPP...

🌟 Brensocatib: first FDA-approved therapy for bronchiectasis. Key takeaways!

First DPP-1 inhibitor for non-CF bronchiectasis & neutrophil-mediated disease.

Effective across key subgroups: macrolide users, varying eosinophil counts, adolescents.

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

🚨 New 2025 ATS guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia! Key points:

For stable adults with outpatient CAP, <5 days of antibiotics are recommended (minimum duration: 3 days).

Systemic corticosteroids for adults hospitalized with severe CAP.

doi.org/10.1164/rccm...

AJRCCM: Results from a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II clinical trial evaluating the optimal dose, acceptable safety, and tolerability of levofloxacin as part of a multidrug TB regimen.

doi.org/10.1164/rccm...

🚨 New 2025 ATS guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia! Key changes:

Lung ultrasound now an evidence-based alternative to chest X-ray for diagnosis

No antibiotics for outpatients with no comorbidities and a positive viral test

doi.org/10.1164/rccm...

ATS Conference 2026 - Call for Scientific Abstracts and Case Reports American Thoracic Society

ATS is accepting submission of scientific abstracts and case reports on all aspects of respiratory disease, critical care, and sleep medicine. Deadline is Nov. 5, 2025. Submit today:

“mRNA vaccines are proven, lifesaving tools backed by decades of research. Sec. Kennedy’s decision undermines public health, science and epidemic preparedness. As physicians & scientists, the ATS urges him to reverse course for the safety of all Americans.” - Tina Hartert, MD, PhD, ATSF

A timely human H5N1 bird flu update: 70 US cases from March 2024-May 2025, mostly mild but 4 hospitalized, 1 death. Nearly all linked to exposure to dairy cows or poultry. No evidence of human-to-human transmission.

buff.ly/3nLif75

www-atsjournals-org.ezproxy.med.nyu.edu/doi/10.1164/...
Telacebec is a novel, first-in-class agent targeting mycobacterial cellular energy production with activity against M. tuberculosis, M. leprae, and M. ulcerans, representing a new strategy for treating diseases associated with these pathogens.

British Thoracic Society Clinical Statement on Aspergillus-related chronic lung disease Aspergillus spp. cause a wide range of acute, sub-acute and chronic lung conditions, some of which can lead to progressive loss of lung function and death. More extensive use of immunosuppression in m...

thorax.bmj.com/content/80/S...
The BTS Clinical Statement on Aspergillus-related chronic lung disease sets out best practice in the diagnosis and management of chronic fungal lung disease.

Induction of lung mucosal immunity by a next-generation inhaled aerosol COVID-19 vaccine: an open-label, multi-arm phase 1 clinical trial - Nature Communications Vaccination provides protection from COVID-19, but optimization in design and route is an ever-ongoing process. Here the authors pursue an open-label, multi-arm phase I clinical trial to report the sa...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Results from an open-label, multi-arm phase 1 clinical trial evaluating an inhaled aerosol COVID-19 vaccine are promising, representing a new vaccine strategy that aims to induce respiratory mucosal immunity.

Phase 3 Trial of the DPP-1 Inhibitor Brensocatib in Bronchiectasis | NEJM In bronchiectasis, neutrophilic inflammation is associated with an increased risk of exacerbations and disease progression. Brensocatib, an oral, reversible inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase 1 (DPP...

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
FDA approves brensocatib for the tx of bronchiectasis: "... [o]nce-daily tx with brensocatib...led to a lower annualized rate of pulmonary exacerbations than placebo, and the decline in FEV1 was less with the 25-mg dose of brensocatib than with placebo."

Contribution of Posttuberculosis Sequelae to Life-Years Lost from Tuberculosis Disease in the United States, 2015–2019 Individuals surviving tuberculosis (TB) disease may experience chronic sequelae that reduce survival and quality of life. These post-TB sequalae are not generally considered in estimates of the health...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
TB survivors are at risk of lifelong disability, reduced economic productivity, and a range of physical, psychological, and social sequalae.

www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1...
✨NEW✨ATS Guidelines for Community-Acquired Pneumonia-addresses lung ultrasound for diagnosis, empiric antibacterial therapy if a test for a respiratory virus is positive, antibiotic duration, and the use of systemic corticosteroids.

Psychological stress and health-related quality of life among tuberculosis patients: a prospective cohort study Economic, social and psychological distress is common in individuals affected by tuberculosis (TB). However, the magnitude of distress, psychological interventions and their effect on the treatment outcomes are often under-evaluated. We examined the level of psychological stress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of such patients and the effect of antituberculosis therapy on them. Our prospective cohort study included newly diagnosed adult pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB patients. Assessment of psychological stress was done using the seven-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder questionnaire for anxiety and the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire for depression. HRQoL was assessed by using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Of the 86 patients studied, 21 (24.4%) had anxiety symptoms at the baseline, which reduced to 5.8% and 1.2% at 2 months and treatment completion, respectively (p<0.001). Among the subjects, 18 (20.9%) patients had depression, which reduced to 7% and 2.3% at 2 months and treatment completion, respectively (p<0.001). All the mean domain scores of HRQoL were poor at the baseline, which showed improvement at treatment completion (p<0.001). Anxiety and depression were common among TB patients, and there was significant progressive reduction during and after treatment. TB had remarkable negative impacts on HRQoL, with the physical domain being the most affected, and all the domain scores showed significant improvement at treatment completion. Routine screening for depression and anxiety and timely referral to a psychiatrist are required in TB patients to improve the outcome of the disease and quality of life.

publications.ersnet.org/content/erjo...
TB has negative impacts on health-related quality of life-e.g., anxiety and depression are common in people with TB. Consider routine screening for depression and anxiety, with referral to psychiatry if necessary, to improve disease outcomes and QOL.

Evaluation and Comparison of Multiple Test Methods, Including Real-time PCR, for Legionella Detection in Clinical Specimens Legionella is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause Pontiac fever, a mild upper respiratory infection and Legionnaire’s disease, a more severe illness. We aimed to compare the performance of urine ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Practice alert! Providers should submit sputum in addition to urinary antigen testing when diagnosing legionella pneumonia.

Target Trial Emulation of Empiric Antibiotics on Clinical Outcomes in Moderately Immunocompromised Patients Hospitalized with Pneumonia - PubMed Immunocompromised patients hospitalized with pneumonia often receive empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics despite low rates of multidrug-resistant organisms. Empiric broad-spectrum antibiotic use was no...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40601818/
Empiric broad-spectrum abx use in moderately immunocompromised patients with CAP not associated with mortality, but was associated with harm (30-day readmission, transfer to ICU, longer duration of hospitalization).

📢📢📢 Don't miss the excellent webinar from our pediatric ATS colleagues on the important topic of pediatric TB! Info below. #STOPTB

---
@ATSPeds VIPPN case series on Challenges in Diagnosis of Childhood Tuberculosis in Low Resource Settings
August 7th at 1pm ET
Register here: shorturl.at/Gyqop

Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs - Nature Mouse models show that respiratory infections from viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 can trigger metastasis of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs, a finding supported by epidemiological d...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Murine model shows how influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections lead to loss of the pro-dormancy phenotype in breast dormant disseminated cancer cells in the lung, causing proliferation & expansion of carcinoma cells into metastatic lesions within 2 weeks.

Dynamic 11C–Para–Aminobenzoic Acid Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography for Visualizing Pulmonary Mycobacteroides abscessus Infections | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10....

🔥Excellent discussion during the ATS PINE Webinar with Dr. Saukkonen and Dr. Daley on 2025 TB treatment guideline updates. Please share your questions and thoughts with us here, on X or LinkedIn in the ATS_PITB feed! #STOPTB

@idsainfo.bsky.social @btsrespiratory.bsky.social @theunion.org

🌲 COMING UP THIS MONDAY🌲
🚨 Don’t miss the PINE Webinar on the NEW TB treatment guidelines!
🦠 Big updates. Expert insights. Sign up today!
#TB #GlobalHealth #MedSky #PCCMSky
@ats-assemblies.bsky.social @idsainfo.bsky.social @btsrespiratory.bsky.social @theunion.org

New in AJRCCM: The first comprehensive plasma proteome map of community-acquired pneumonia reveals key proteins linked to disease severity, multi-organ involvement, and 10-year pneumonia risk. Findings pave the way for biomarker-driven precision medicine in respiratory infections. buff.ly/kPgq5FM

Combining tuberculin skin test with follow-on interferon gamma release assay markedly improves screening of household contacts Introduction In Hong Kong, tuberculin skin test (TST) with a 15 mm cut-off was used at 0 and 3 months for contact screening, but half of future tuberculosis cases might be missed. Follow-on…

New in Thorax: Adding follow-on IGRA to TST (5–14 mm) for household TB contacts in Hong Kong boosted detection, cut missed cases, and reduced overtreatment. Serial testing at 0 & 3 months captured 96% of future TB cases with fewer false positives.
buff.ly/pw1BA3b