Trade-offs in diagnostic algorithm, population coverage, and duration of community screening for tuberculosis: A modelling study In a mathematical modelling study, Katherine Horton and colleagues assess different tuberculosis (TB) community screening approaches and their estimated effects on TB incidence and mortality over ten ...

In this mathematical modelling study, Katherine Horton & co assess #TB community screening approaches & their estimated effects on TB incidence & mortality, concluding that methods that capture both infectious & non-infectious TB are needed to achieve sustained case reductions🧪
plos.io/4tuD2SM

In our latest paper in @plosmedicine.org, we explore trade-offs in diagnostic algorithm, coverage, and duration of community screening for #TB, highlighting the importance of symptom-agnostic approaches and the need for strategies to sustain impact when screening ends.

plos.io/4tuD2SM

A fascinating long read for World TB Day #tbsky @stoptb.bsky.social @madhupai.bsky.social @treatmentactiongroup.org @tomscriba.bsky.social

A new TB dashboard can help boost testing, we need to make the most of it The new government TB dashboard is a step forward for transparency and accountability in South Africa’s response to the ancient, but still deadly, disease. It is critical that we use it wisely to boos...

DATA MUST DRIVE ACTION | South Africa's new TB dashboard is a win for transparency. The data must now help boost TB testing and find the people still missing from care, say leading TB activists.

www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/03/16/a...

The hunt for a new TB vaccine: Why we are now so close, and why it matters The only tuberculosis vaccine we have is a century old and offers only limited efficacy in children. With leading South African researchers involved in the pivotal clinical trials of three new tubercu...

NEW HOPE | For more than a century, the world has relied on a single TB vaccine. That could finally change with top South African researchers playing a key role. Associate Professor Angelique Kany Kany Luabeya explains why this moment matters.

www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/03/17/t...

Confidential health records from UK BioBank project exposed online Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds data from flagship medical research leaked dozens of times

"When intending to upload code, some researchers have also accidentally published partial or entire Biobank datasets to GitHub, a popular online code-sharing platform." www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

41 Celsius in Cape Town today

We have a vacancy for Data Scientist position within our dynamic clinical immunology group. To apply visit the UCT online job portal at: www.uct.ac.za

Hey ChatGPT, write me a fictional paper: these LLMs are willing to commit academic fraud Mainstream chatbots presented varying levels of resistance to deliberate requests for fabrication, study finds.

Pretty depressing stuff

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Latest research: Estimating the population impact of new tuberculosis vaccines depending on efficacy against infectious asymptomatic tuberculosis: A modelling study appearing in the @plosmedicine.org journal. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41678562/

#ClimateChange isn’t just melting ice caps.

It’s changing pollen seasons, worsening air pollution and increasing breathing problems in South Africa.

Learn how to report it accurately — and compellingly. Sign up for our webinar.

forms.gle/NTHCHkMnZiG7...

The potential impact of reduced international donor funding on the household economic burden of tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries: A modeling study In a modelling study, Allison Portnoy and colleagues investigate the potential impact of reduced international donor funding on the household economic burden of Tuberculosis in low- and middle-income ...

In this modeling study, Allison Portnoy and colleagues investigate the potential impact of reduced international donor funding on the household economic burden of tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries 🧪 #MedSky #TB
plos.io/4ryyBFX

Estimating the population impact of new tuberculosis vaccines depending on efficacy against infectious asymptomatic tuberculosis: A modelling study Hira Tanvir and colleagues estimate the potential impact of new tuberculosis vaccines under three scenarios of efficacy and conclude that to achieve the greatest impact, vaccines must prevent asymptom...

Our recent modelling study found that the estimated impact of new TB vaccines depends on the efficacy to prevent infectious asymptomatic TB. Read more in our paper out now in @plosmedicine.org!

journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

Controversial Danish vaccine research group faces new allegations Researchers say they couldn’t find complete data for 10 trials that together enrolled tens of thousands of children in Guinea-Bissau

A new paper levels fresh allegations of questionable scientific practices by the Bandim Health Project, an embattled group led by researchers in Denmark that has long studied vaccines in West Africa and has recently become influential in U.S. health policy. https://scim.ag/3ZY7NCR

Dozens of researchers will move to France from US following high-profile bid to lure talent Large proportion worked at Columbia University, which had its grants cut and frozen by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Almost all of the scientists were previously at US institutions

go.nature.com/4qMlrUR

Assessment of adverse effects attributed to statin therapy in product labels: a meta-analysis of double-blind randomised controlled trials Adverse event data from blinded randomised trials do not support causal relationships between statin therapy and most of the conditions (including cognitive impairment, depression, sleep disturbance, ...

The real story about statin safety from >122,000 RCT participants with individual level data. They can cause new-onset diabetes and muscle pain/weakness, but other than that they are remarkably safe for 62 outcomes. Rare liver function test abnormalities thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Very interesting paper: M. tuberculosis proteins under diversifying selection and the T cell responses that target them. Could these be good TB vaccine antigens?
JCI Insight: Rare variable M. tuberculosis antigens induce predominant Th17 responses in human infection insight.jci.org/articles/vie...

Are health influencers making us sick? Social media can help to raise awareness of health conditions — but the wealth of dubious information online might do more harm than good.

Book review 📚 Are health influencers making us sick?

go.nature.com/4tsEOoq

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

US science after a year of Trump

A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.


go.nature.com/4jSm0ui

Cover of a journal called Tubercle, published in 1919, advertizing a tuberculosis sanatorium in Davos

Yes, Davos, the playground for rich and famous today was once home for desperate tuberculosis patients seeking a cure in sanatoria

One Year Post-USAID, Global Health Funding Stuck in Limbo  | Think Global Health End-of-year estimates convey how much global health funding changed in 2025

One Year Post-USAID, Global Health Funding Stuck in Limbo

www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/one-...

This is a very appealing meeting in Paris later this year...

"The complexity of mycobacterial infections: from research to real-world impact"
#EMBOComplexInfections

#TBSky for the tuberculosis research, but also #NTM #Leprosy #IDSky #ImmunoSky

meetings.embo.org/event/26-myc...

Important paper by Björn
Corleis. For decades a central tenet of #tuberculosis immunology has that IFNγ-driven iNOS expression in macrophages is the primary mechanism of bacterial control. Turns out this is really only in mice and maybe cattle. It’s not true in most species including humans an NHP.

The Barber lab is looking to hire post-docs to work on #tuberculosis #immunology using murine and NHP models. BSL3 experience not required. Check out our lab in the NIH intramural program in Bethesda MD!

Clinical testing of drug treatment shortening in patients with TB using PET/CT imaging of lung lesions Four months instead of the standard 6 months of drug therapy of less extensive tuberculosis disease had a higher risk of relapse.

A shortened, four-month course of tuberculosis drug therapy has a higher risk of relapse linked to active lung cavities compared to a standard 6-month protocol, shows a new #ScienceTranslationalMedicine clinical trial of patients in South Africa and China. https://scim.ag/4jv4oo5

The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left “We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.

“The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left”

www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...

The golden age of vaccine development - Works in Progress Magazine The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom.

This is an excellent summary of the scientific developments that led to and enabled vaccine development. In my view a must read for anyone who crosses paths with vaccination - ie, everyone.

worksinprogress.co/issue/the-go...

Summary of this report in case access is a problem
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Long COVID involves activation of proinflammatory and immune exhaustion pathways - Nature Immunology Long COVID (LC) involves a spectrum of chronic symptoms after resolution of acute severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Barouch and colleagues show that LC is characterized by per...

Hoping the pivotal finding of increased inflammation with #LongCovid will be responsive to tirzepatide (Zepbound) in our ongoing 1,000+ participant randomized, placebo-controlled trial (full enrollment completed in <1 month!)
www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natimmunol.nature.com

TB-IPD platform The TB treatment individual patient data platform (TB-IPD) is a collaborative initiative to support the generation of reliable evidence on the treatment of TB to inform future TB treatment guidelines.

🚀 The TB Individual Patient Data (IPD) Platform is now on Bluesky!

Hosted at UCL and overseen by the UCL Centre for Global Tuberculosis Research, we bring together individual patient data to strengthen TB research, policy, and public health.

🔗 www.ucl.ac.uk/population-h...