Category Archives: Announcements

08 Mar

Webinar | MDR-TB Treatment with Bedaquiline in Children and Adolescents: Global Recommendations and Program Experience in Belarus

On November 21, 2017, the Sentinel Project co-sponsored a webinar with DR-TB STAT, entitled “MDR-TB Treatment with Bedaquiline in Children and Adolescents: Global Recommendations and Program Experience in Belarus.” Dr. Alena Skrahina, MD, PhD, DSc, presented interim results of bedaquiline use in the treatment of children and adolescents with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Belarus. Dr. Skrahina discussed the acceptability of bedaquiline-containing regimens, culture conversion results, and the occurrence of adverse events. Dr. Skrahina was joined by Dr. Jennifer Furin as commentator and moderator.

08 Mar

Webinar | Recent Developments in the Field of Pediatric MDR-TB

On October 26, 2017, the Sentinel Project sponsored a presentation by Dr. Anthony Garcia-Prats and Dr. Anja Reuter entitled “Recent Developments in the Field of Pediatric MDR-TB.” Dr. Garcia-Prats reviewed emerging pharmacokinetic data on repurposed and novel second-line antituberculosis drugs in children, with a focus on implications for pediatric dosing.  He reviewed ongoing pediatric trials and discuss expected data from these trials. Dr. Reuter discussed early experience with new TB drugs in early adolescents and children. She presented clinical cases of adolescents on treatment with new DR-TB drugs in a primary health care setting in Khayelitsha, South Africa. Dr. Garcia-Prats and Dr. Reuter were joined by Dr. Jennifer Furin as commentator and moderator. Slides from the webinar are available here.

11 Apr

Webinar | Injectable-Sparing Regimens for Children

On April 7, 2017 the Sentinel Project co-sponsored a webinar with DR-TB STAT, entitled “The Time Has Come: The Case for Injectable-Sparing Treatment Regimens for Children with MDR-TB.” Dr. Ethel Weld reviewed evidence and experience that supports the treatment of children with MDR-TB disease using regimens that do not require an injectable agent. Dr. Weld was joined by Dr. Kelly Dooley as commentator and Dr. Jennifer Furin as moderator. Slides from the webinar with Dr. Weld are available here, and the corresponding article published on March 23, 2017 in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine is available here.

11 Apr

Use of Bedaquiline in Adolescents

On March 13, 2017, the World Health Organization issued a meeting report that included evidence on the use of bedaquiline in 537 individuals treated for MDR-TB disease, including adolescents. In light of this new data, a group of clinical experts from the Sentinel Project developed a brief update on bedaquiline, with recommendations to clinical providers and national TB programs. Please see the summary and recommendations here.

13 Dec

Management of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Children: A Field Guide (Third Edition)

The Sentinel Project resource “Management of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Children: A Field Guide, Third Edition” is now available.

This field guide is meant to serve as a tool for practitioners working with children at risk of infection or becoming sick with MDR-TB. This guide was developed by a team of experts who jointly have treated hundreds of children with MDR-TB over the last two decades in every region of the world. We hope it will be used in the field to rapidly increase the number of children receiving effective care for MDR-TB.

The guide focuses on issues relevant in clinical and programmatic practices and does not offer extensive background materials on management of MDR-TB, which can be found here. Case examples are included throughout the guide to demonstrate how the recommendations put forth in the field guide can be translated into practice. The third edition features updated information and incorporates two new anti-tubercular agents, bedaquiline and delamanid.

The third edition of the Field Guide is available in English and Spanish.

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For additional translations of the Field Guide, please send a note to Sentinel_Project@hms.harvard.edu.

08 Jun

Webinar | An Update on the Use of Bedaquiline and Delamanid in Children with MDR-TB

Did you miss the webinar “An Update on the Use of Bedaquiline and Delamanid in Children with MDR-TB,”  which provided an update and synthesized timely clinical guidance on the use of bedaquiline and delamanid in children with MDR-TB? Slides from the webinar with Dr. Jennifer Furin are available here, and the resource referred to in the webinar “Rapid Clinical Advice: The use of Bedaquiline and Delamanid in Children with MDR-TB” is available as a PDF here.

16 May

Advancing Access for New TB Drugs for Children

The Sentinel Project’s Advocacy Task Force has developed “Rapid Clinical Advice” on the use of new TB drugs in children. This was produced by a global committee of 18 clinicians who are experts in the management of MDR-TB in children.

This document is meant to complement the Sentinel Project’s Field Guide on the management of MDR-TB in children (available here) and synthesize timely clinical guidance on the use of new drugs for providers who are caring for children with drug-resistant TB. Rapid Clinical Advice: The Use of Bedaquiline and Delamanid for Children with Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis  is available as a PDF here.

15 May

We can defeat TB! A book of stories and activities to learn about tuberculosis

In collaboration with the Global TB Program at Texas Children’s Hospital, Sentinel Project members wrote, illustrated, and designed an activity book for children affected by TB. The activity book, “We can defeat TB! A book of stories and activities to learn about tuberculosis,” is currently available for download in English and SiSwati. This resource is not available in print at this time.

27 Jan

Setting priorities for a research agenda to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis in children

In the December 2015 edition of Public Health Action, a Sentinel Project task force published the results of their work. In this original report, they aimed to systematically identify and rank research priorities in childhood drug-resistant TB through a survey of the Sentinel Project network. Research priorities identified in the study include the best combination of existing diagnostic tools for early diagnosis, reasons for and interventions to improve treatment outcomes, adverse effects of drugs and optimal treatment duration, prevalence of drug-resistant TB, and interventions for optimal diagnosis, treatment and modalities for treatment delivery.

We thank all of the colleagues who participated in the survey.

To read the complete Open Access article, visit the Public Health Action website here or download the PDF here.