New Insights into Tuberculosis Control: Transmission Research, Prevention, Treatment, Community Engagement, Health Literacy and Clinical Governance

Dear Colleagues,

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health challenge, disproportionately affecting vulnerable and underserved populations. Despite advances in diagnostics, treatment and prevention, progress towards TB elimination continues to be hindered by delayed diagnosis, ongoing community transmission, drug resistance, treatment interruption, stigma, health inequities and weaknesses in healthcare delivery. The interaction between TB and comorbid conditions, including HIV, diabetes and malnutrition, further complicates prevention, clinical management and treatment outcomes.

Effective TB control requires an integrated approach that extends beyond biomedical interventions. Molecular epidemiology, genomic surveillance, innovative diagnostics and improved therapeutic strategies must be combined with community-engaged research, culturally appropriate health literacy initiatives and responsive health systems. Meaningful collaboration among researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, community leaders and affected populations can improve early case detection, treatment adherence, contact investigation, linkage to care and the sustainability of TB interventions. Clinical governance including evidence-based practice, quality improvement, patient safety, accountability and antimicrobial stewardship is also essential for translating research findings into better services and outcomes.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate recent advances in TB transmission research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and control. It particularly welcomes multidisciplinary and implementation-focused research that connects laboratory, clinical, epidemiological, public health and community perspectives. Contributions demonstrating how community engagement, health literacy and clinical governance can strengthen equitable, patient-centred and contextually appropriate TB services are encouraged.

Original research articles, systematic and scoping reviews, brief reports, case reports, perspectives and implementation studies relevant to the scope of Infectious Disease Reports are welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

TB transmission dynamics and molecular epidemiology;

Genomic surveillance and drug-resistance mechanisms;

Innovations in TB screening and diagnostic technologies;

Prevention, treatment and management of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB;

TB/HIV coinfection and other clinically important comorbidities;

Contact investigation and household- or community-based interventions;

Community-engaged research and community-based participatory research;

TB health literacy, stigma reduction and risk communication;

Treatment adherence, linkage to care and patient-centred support;

Clinical governance, quality improvement and patient safety in TB services;

Antimicrobial stewardship and responsible use of TB medicines;

Implementation science, digital health and health-system strengthening;

TB interventions among rural, vulnerable and underserved populations;

Policy, equity and multisectoral approaches to TB elimination.

Dr. Lindiwe Modest Faye
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• tuberculosis
• drug-resistant tuberculosis
• molecular epidemiology
• genomic surveillance
• TB/HIV coinfection
• community engagement
• health literacy
• clinical governance
• implementation science
• public health