Tuberculosis dates back more than 9,000 years. It is the most infectious bacterial disease and in 2022 10.6 million people fell ill with it.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Tuberculosis dates back more than 9,000 years. It is the most infectious bacterial disease and in 2022 10.6 million people fell ill with it. Of these 23% occurred in Africa.

The only vaccine against tuberculosis, the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, is more than 100 years old and is primarily effective for infants and young children.

Researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Pathology have made a significant breakthrough in vaccine development by gene-editing the BCG to make it more effective.

Mice vaccinated with the modified BCG vaccine were better able to limit tuberculosis growth in their lungs than mice that had received the original vaccine.

Microbiologist Bavesh Kana, one of the lead researchers, explains to Nadine Dreyer from The Conversation Africa the science behind this breakthrough and the potential it holds for other vaccines.

Bavesh Kana is the Head of the Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research at the University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation.

Women take part in a candlelight vigil against the “killing” of two missing students by unknown miscreants and demand peace in Manipur, Imphal. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Four arrested in Manipur for abduction, killing of two Meitei students

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested four people, including two women, for their alleged role in the abduction and killing of two Meitei students in Manipur in July. They were arrested from the hill district of Churachandpur. The suspects were identified as Paominlun Haokip, S. Malsawm Haokip, Lhingneichong Baite, and Tinneilhing Henthang. They were flown to Guwahati from Imphal by a joint team of the CBI and Manipur Police.

No shortage of TB drugs in India: Union Health Ministry

There is no shortage of anti-tuberculosis medicines in India, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday, slamming media reports claiming that such a shortage exists as “false, motivated and misleading”. In a sharp statement, the Ministry asserted that there is a sufficient stock of all anti-TB drugs in the country. The Centre proactively undertakes regular assessments to evaluate the stock positions at various levels, from central warehouses to peripheral health institutes, it said.

Over 9.2 lakh sites host cleanliness drive; PM appeals for swachhata

More than 9.2 lakh sites across the country hosted a mega cleanliness drive on Sunday in which people from across the spectrum, including politicians, celebrities, and students participated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took part in this cleanliness drive along with fitness influencer Ankit Baiyanpuria.

AFSPA extended in four districts of Assam, withdrawn from four others

The Assam Police on October 1 said the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA has been extended in four districts of the State for six more months. At the Assam Police Day 2023 celebrations in Guwahati, DGP Gyanendra Pratap Singh said the ‘disturbed area’ tag, which allows enforcement of the AFSPA, has, however, been withdrawn from four other districts.

Congress, AAP back protest seeking restoration of old pension scheme

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that he has requested the Union government to implement the old pension scheme (OPS) for Delhi government employees. He voiced his support on a day when thousands of protesters gathered at Ramlila Maidan in the capital for an agitation against the new pension scheme (NPS). Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely also participated in the rally and offered his support to the protesters.

Students make 154 sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi

To observe the 154th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Chembrakanam Chitra Shilpakala Academy and Thrikaripur St. Paul’s School are jointly conducting a four-day Chitra Shilpakala Camp, which began on Saturday. The camp saw the creation of 154 sculptures of Gandhi, each meticulously crafted from 1 kg to 5 kg of clay by students. As many as 154 students from over 17 schools participated in the camp.

Demand for inquest into Khalistan activist’s death in Birmingham likely on October 2

The Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) plans to make a formal demand, likely on Monday, for a coroner’s inquest into the death of Khalistani activist Avtar Singh Khanda in Birmingham last June, according to sources aware of the plan. Pro-Khalistani Sikhs also plan to hold a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in London on October 2, accusing the Indian government of involvement in the death of a pro-Khalistan activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada. The protest is part of a coordinated strategy by Sikh separatists in various countries.

Biden says there’s ‘not much time’ to keep aid flowing to Ukraine and Congress must ‘stop the games’

President Joe Biden said Sunday that American aid to Ukraine will keep flowing for now as he sought to reassure allies of continued U.S. financial support for the war effort. But time is running out, the President said in a warning to Congress. “We cannot under any circumstances allow American for Ukraine to be interrupted,” Mr. Biden said in remarks from the Roosevelt Room after Congress averted a government shutdown by passing a short-term funding package late Saturday that dropped assistance for Ukraine in the battle against Russia.

Turkiye strikes suspected Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq after suicide attack in Ankara

The Turkish Defence Ministry says its warplanes have carried out raids on suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Sunday following a suicide attack on a government building in the Turkish capital. A Ministry statement said some 20 targets of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were “destroyed” in the aerial operation, including caves, shelters, and depots. Earlier, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near an entrance of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, injuring two police officers. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police on Sunday, the interior minister said.

Indonesia to launch China-funded high-speed rail, first in Southeast Asia

Indonesia is set to launch Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway on Monday, a delayed multibillion-dollar project backed by China that will cut travel between capital Jakarta and another major city by hours. The Chinese-made bullet train named “Whoosh” is built to take more than 600 people to and from Jakarta and the Javan city of Bandung in 45 minutes and is part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

GST revenue growth slowed to 10.2% in September

Growth in India’s gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues slowed to a 27-month low of 10.2% in September, from around 10.8% in the previous two months. However, collections improved 2.3% over August revenues to touch ₹1,62,712 crore. Revenues from domestic transactions, including services imports, were 14% higher than the tax collected from these sources during September 2022. This is the fourth time that the gross GST kitty has crossed the ₹1.60 lakh crore mark in 2023-24, the Finance Ministry said. 

Hangzhou Asian Games | Abhay’s performance in the final is one for the history books

Abhay Singh is a proud product of the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai. The 23-year-old made his alma mater proud by rising from the ashes to help India regain the men’s team gold medal in Hangzhou with a dazzling performance in the third and final rubber against Pakistan in the summit clash. It was an outstanding performance that will go down in history books as one of India’s finest wins in the Asian Games.

Teams deal with warm-up games conundrum

Not much to gain for us. Priority is to look after the players. Just a formality.” That was the crux of India captain Rohit Sharma’s brief chat with the host broadcaster after winning the toss against England in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match. No wonder then that India would not have been too disappointed when a thunderstorm that started minutes before the start of play washed the game out. As a result, India left for Thiruvananthapuram for its last warm-up game with only four players training on the pre-match day.

Since 2017, India’s Tuberculosis (TB) programme has been undertaking active case finding (ACF) outside the healthcare settings among high-risk populations. 
| Photo Credit: AP

Since 2017, India’s Tuberculosis (TB) programme has been undertaking active case finding (ACF) outside the healthcare settings among high-risk populations. Recently, a team led by the Chennai-based National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE) undertook the first-ever national-level analysis to measure the quality of ACF. This study was commissioned by the Central TB Division. The results of the study were published on September 21 in the journal Global Health Action.

ACF data were available only for 657 districts. Of the three ACF cycles recommended among the high-risk populations each year, 642 districts (98%) undertook just one cycle. Most districts were not clear what constituted one ACF cycle.

An ACF cycle is mapping of the high-risk population and screening and testing them in a given period. “Based on a study in South Africa, two ACF cycles in a year appear to have additional benefits over one cycle. There is no evidence to suggest three cycles are needed,” Dr. Hemant Deepak Shewade, a senior scientist at ICMR-NIE and the first author of the paper, told The Hindu.

Based on the available data, the quality of ACF was measured using three indicators — screening at least 10% of the district population for TB, testing at least 4.75% of the screened, and diagnosing at least 5% TB among those tested. Alternative indicator (that is a composite measure of the latter two indicators) is the number of persons who must be screened to diagnose one active TB case or number needed to screen (NNS); NNS should be less than 1,538.

The study found that the quality of ACF was suboptimal across the country in 2021. Not one State met all the three ACF quality indicator cut-offs or the NNS. At the national level, 9.3% of the population were screened, just 1% of the screened were tested and 3.7% of the tested were diagnosed. The NNS was 2,824 which is much higher than 1,538.

Within a district, all high-risk populations are to be first identified (which is called mapping) and ACF should be conducted among them. But mapping was undertaken only in areas where ACF was conducted and not for the entire district. “We did not have comprehensive data on the number of high-risk populations in the district to report the extent of ACF among high-risk populations. Hence, we reported the extent of ACF among the district population and compared it against a derived cut-off of 10%,” he said.

They found that States that reported high percentage of screening had very low percentage of testing among the screened. Meanwhile, States that had low screening had high levels of testing and diagnosis. Quality ACF indicators for each State should be based on TB epidemiology in the State.

The percentage of people tested among the screened was the worst of the three indicators; it was even worse in the case of population-based screening. “This could be because sputum collection and transport was suboptimal or the presumptive TB cases were required to visit the nearest testing facilities on their own leading to attrition,” he said.

The recommendations of this study have the potential to guide India’s ACF guidance for TB.

Image used for representational purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Aadesh Choudhari

Batting for better diagnostic services which are affordable and easily accessible, the Parliamentary standing committee on Health and Family Welfare’s report on Implementation of Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhigyan presented in Rajya Sabha on September 21 noted that the BCG vaccine (bacille Calmette-Guerin, which is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease, does not provide adequate protection to adolescents and adults who are at high risk of developing TB disease.

“In view thereof, the Committee suggests expediting the research programme to study the effectiveness of BCG and, based on the result, to consider a booster dose of recombinant BCG vaccine in the universal immunisation programme. This could be an effective and cheaper option to control TB,” it said.

The Committee has also recommended expediting the newly developed skin tests extensively for those in close contact with TB patients and risk groups.

“The validation of this test for children less than 18 years old may be expedited so that the TB preventive treatment may be given at the infection level itself,” it noted.

Suggesting that Government procure the indigenously developed Truenat diagnostic machine in bulk and supply the same at block level across the country as quickly as possible, the report said this move would aid in the earliest realisation of upfront molecular testing across the country, which curbs missing TB cases and simplifies the detection of drug-resistant TB cases.

The Committee is also of the view that research and innovation in TB elimination programs are core components that would re-define the diagnostic and treatment measures to transform the TB response efforts and develop novel approaches that not only benefit India in reducing TB burden but can lead the way for other countries to follow.