Advances in Tuberculosis: Comprehensive Insights and Management Strategies

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 557

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Medical Expert, RCV Rare Disease GmbH, Berlin, Germany
Interests: respiratory medicine; critical care medicine; anesthesiology; genetic medicine; tuberculosis (TB), including RR/MDR-TB and HIV/TB

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tuberculosis (TB), the leading cause of death from a curable infectious disease, remains a significant global health challenge. In 2022, 10.6 million people were diagnosed with TB, and 1.6 million TB-related deaths were reported. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted TB control programs, reversing recent progress. However, significant scientific breakthroughs in TB prevention, screening, diagnostics, and treatment have emerged in the past decade, offering hope for better control and management.

Recent advances include the use of highly sensitive diagnostic tools like the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra, capable of the early detection of TB. Shorter, all-oral treatment regimens for drug-susceptible (DS-TB) and drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), endorsed by the WHO, represent significant progress. Understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms of both the host and Mycobacteria is crucial for advancing TB management strategies.

This Special Issue explores comprehensive strategies for managing TB, including both pulmonary and extra-pulmonary forms. Key topics include innovative TB screening, prevention methods, and rapid diagnostics. This Special Issue also covers treatment regimens for DS-TB and DR-TB and the management of co-infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and co-morbidities like diabetes.

This Special Issue will our enhance understanding of and improve clinical practice by providing comprehensive insights into TB control and management, spanning innovative screening and diagnostic methods, advanced treatment protocols, and prevention strategies.

Dr. Aliaksandr Skrahin
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (TB)
  • TB epidemiology
  • TB screening, TB prevention
  • TB diagnostics
  • TB treatment
  • TB co-infections (e.g., HIV, Hepatitis B and C)
  • TB co-morbidities (e.g., diabetes)
  • host and Mycobacteria genetic
  • molecular mechanisms and genotype/phenotype correlations

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

23 pages, 1515 KiB  
Article
Comparative Insights into COVID-19 and Tuberculosis: Clinical Manifestations, Inflammatory Markers, and Outcomes in Pulmonary Versus Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis and SARS-CoV-2 Co-Infection
by Camil Mihuta, Adriana Socaci, Patricia Hogea, Emanuela Tudorache, Monica Simina Mihuta and Cristian Oancea
J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14(8), 2782; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14082782 - 17 Apr 2025
Viewed by 214
Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis and COVID-19 co-infection poses significant clinical challenges, with pulmonary TB (PTB) and extrapulmonary TB (extraPTB) potentially influencing disease progression and outcomes differently. This study aims to compare the clinical manifestations, inflammatory markers, and outcomes between PTB and extraPTB patients with [...] Read more.
Background: Tuberculosis and COVID-19 co-infection poses significant clinical challenges, with pulmonary TB (PTB) and extrapulmonary TB (extraPTB) potentially influencing disease progression and outcomes differently. This study aims to compare the clinical manifestations, inflammatory markers, and outcomes between PTB and extraPTB patients with SARS-CoV-2 co-infection. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on 55 hospitalized adults with TB-COVID-19 co-infection from March 2020 to March 2022. Patients were divided into PTB (n = 32) and extraPTB (n = 23) groups. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and imaging data were collected and analyzed using statistical models, including ANCOVA, LASSO regression, and Random Forest classification, to identify key predictors of hospitalization duration and mortality. Results: PTB patients had significantly lower BMI, worse oxygenation status, and greater lung involvement on CT compared to extraPTB patients. CRP was elevated in PTB, while IL-6 levels were higher in extraPTB. Hospitalization duration was primarily influenced by inflammatory and coagulation markers (IL-6, D-dimer, neutrophil count, systemic inflammatory index), while higher BMI was associated with shorter stays. Mortality risk was strongly correlated with oxygenation impairment (worst SpO2, SpO2 at diagnosis), inflammatory burden (CRP, LDH), and CT severity score, rather than TB localization. Conclusions: TB localization did not independently affect hospitalization duration or mortality risk. Instead, severe lung involvement, systemic inflammation, and hypoxemia were the strongest predictors of poor outcomes. These findings emphasize the importance of early risk stratification based on respiratory and inflammatory markers to optimize patient management. Further research is needed to clarify the long-term impact of TB-COVID-19 co-infection, particularly in extraPTB cases. Full article
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