Public Health England.

United Kingdom (UK) guidelines recommend at least 18 months treatment for patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Prior to 2008, data on treatment outcome were only available at 12 months and therefore the proportion completing treatment was unknown. This retrospective-prospective cohort study reports on treatment outcomes for MDR-TB patients notified between 2004 and 2007 and examines factors associated with successful outcomes. 70.6% (144/204) completed treatment in 24 months or more, 6.9% (14) stopped treatment, 6.9% (14) died, 7.8% (16) were lost to follow up, 0.5% (1) relapsed and 4.4% (9) were transferred overseas. Following adjustment for age, being non-UK born, non-compliance and having co-morbidities, treatment with a fluoroquinolone (OR 3.09; 95% CI 1.21-7.88; p<0.05) or bacteriostatic drug (OR 4.23; 95% CI 1.60-11.18; p<0.05) were independently associated with successful treatment outcome. Treatment completion for MDR-TB cases remains below the World Health Organization (WHO) target. Our findings support current WHO guidelines for MDR-TB treatment. The UK should consider adopting individualised regimens based on WHO recommended drugs, taking into account drug sensitivities. Improving treatment completion rates will be key to tackling further drug resistance and transmission from untreated infectious cases.

Cohort review has been used internationally to support tuberculosis (TB) control. We describe its first use in the UK by a London TB service. Improvements were noted in case management and contact tracing, weaknesses identified and important service changes put in place. Key areas of impact were directly observed therapy (DOT) provision (a greater proportion of cases offered DOT, and in response to low uptake resources diverted to create posts responsible for patient-centred DOT delivery), and contact tracing (more contacts per case screened and assessed). Cohort review enables whole system review and improvement. It has subsequently been adopted across the UK.

The lack of an increased risk of TB after stratifying by country of birth, and the very few transmission events involving nosocomial transmission in the UK suggests that TB in HCWs in the UK is not generally acquired through UK occupational exposure. The majority of cases in foreign-born HCWs are likely to result from reactivation of latent TB infection (LTBI) acquired abroad, and is not likely to be prevented by BCG vaccination in the UK. Testing and treatment of LTBI in HCWs with exposure to high TB burden countries should be the focus of occupational health prevention activities.

BackgroundInformation leaflets are widely used to increase awareness and knowledge of disease. Limited research has, to date, been undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of these information resources. This pilot study sought to determine whether information leaflets developed specifically for staff working with substance mis-users improved knowledge of tuberculosis (TB).MethodStaffs working with individuals affected by substance mis-use were recruited between January and May 2008. All participants were subjectively allocated by their line manager either to receive the TB-specific leaflet or a control leaflet providing information on mental health. Level of knowledge of TB was assessed using questionnaires before and after the intervention and data analysed using McNemar's exact test for matched pairs.ResultsThe control group showed no evidence of a change in knowledge of TB, whereas the TB questionnaire group demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge including TB being curable (81% correct before to 100% correct after), length of treatment required (42% before to 73% after), need to support direct observation (18% to 62%) and persistent fever being a symptom (56% to 87%). Among key workers, who have a central role in implementing a care plan, 88% reported never receiving any TB awareness-raising intervention prior to this study, despite 11% of all respondents having TB diagnosed among their clients.ConclusionFurther randomized controlled trials are required to confirm the observed increase in short-term gain in knowledge and to investigate whether knowledge gain leads to change in health status.