New research at the Desmond Tutu TB Centre at Stellenbosch University is studying the effects of tuberculosis (TB) drug therapy in children less than a year old. Children have traditionally been excluded from trials but research is needed to be able to adjust therapies according to body weight.

Babies usually contract TB from their mothers or other infected adults, not from other kids. It most often infects the lungs, but it can also attack other parts of the body, such as the spine, kidneys and brain.

"Immunity is very weak in a small child and even more so in an infant. They can get seriously ill. If the mother is not treated for TB or has only recently started treatment, it poses a high risk to her newborn baby. We also need to find better ways to treat babies with TB,” says Adrie Bekker, lead researcher and neonatology specialist.

One million children every year contract TB, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, and 400 000 of them die from it. Bekker says without proper preventive therapy, up to 50 per cent of babies infected with TB will develop TB disease.

"We need to know if we’re treating babies with TB correctly. The study is important to determine whether new guidelines are appropriate to also treat the youngest and most vulnerable TB patients. This research also paves the way to evaluate new TB drugs and treatment regimens in babies,” says Anneke Hesseling, Director of the Paediatric TB Research Programme.

Bekker’s research is also looking at the intimate relationship between maternal and infant TB, particularly if the mother is HIV positive. TB is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide that is caused by a single infectious agent. HIV and TB form a lethal combination causing one fifth of all deaths of people living with HIV.

"A mother with TB or HIV is twice as likely to have a premature and low-birth weight baby and for a tiny baby, the risk of contracting TB and severe forms of TB is much higher because they have less immunity,” adds Bekker.

The new research comes at a critical time in the global fight against TB. Last week, in Geneva, The 67th World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO’s highest decision-making authority, approved the "Post-2015 Global Strategy and Targets For Tuberculosis Prevention, Care and Control”.

The new Post-2015 Global Strategy for Tuberculosis emphasises the importance of early diagnosis of the disease and of new research and development for life-saving medicines. With this new strategy in place, governments are working to end the TB epidemic and achieve a 95 per cent reduction in TB deaths by 2035.

According to the Stop TB Partnership, the upcoming five-year Plan to Stop TB (2016-2020) will set the direction to achieve these international goals. The strategy is built on the three pillars of integrated, patient-centred care and prevention; bold policies and supportive systems; and intensified research and innovation.

WHO states that they will promote research and development for new or improved diagnostics, treatment and preventive tools, efficient vaccines, and stimulate new innovations to fight the TB epidemic and save lives.

Technology is an effective tool in the prevention and treatment of TB. Do your part to #StopTB by using social media, tweet @StopTB or visit www.stoptb.org

Dr Couillard is an international health columnist that works in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s goals of disease prevention and control. Views do not necessarily reflect endorsement.

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