SETTING: Tuberculosis programme in six camps (Benaco, Musuhura, Lumasi, Lukole, Keza and Kitali) for Rwandan and Burundian refugees in Ngara district, Tanzania, where treatment was directly observed throughout. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the treatment outcome of sputum smear-positive tuberculosis cases recruited in refugee camps in Ngara, and to determine the cumulative frequency of conversion of sputum smears by direct microscopy. DESIGN: Retrospective review of tuberculosis registers from January 1995 to December 1999. RESULTS: Of 546 patients with smear-positive tuberculosis who were notified in the programme, 363 (66.5%) had completed treatment and were bacteriologically cured after 7 months, 10.9% had died, 7.1% had defaulted and 14.5% had transferred out. Sputum conversion after the 2-month intensive phase was 88%, and increased to 99% after 7 months of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The involvement of the Tanzania NTLP in collaboration with health NGOs has led to a satisfactory outcome. These data suggest that it is possible for tuberculosis control programmes to perform successfully in refugee settings.
SETTING:Tuberculosis programme in six camps (Benaco, Musuhura, Lumasi, Lukole, Keza and Kitali) for Rwandan and Burundian refugees in Ngara district, Tanzania, where treatment was directly observed throughout. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the treatment outcome of sputum smear-positive tuberculosis cases recruited in refugee camps in Ngara, and to determine the cumulative frequency of conversion of sputum smears by direct microscopy. DESIGN: Retrospective review of tuberculosis registers from January 1995 to December 1999. RESULTS: Of 546 patients with smear-positive tuberculosis who were notified in the programme, 363 (66.5%) had completed treatment and were bacteriologically cured after 7 months, 10.9% had died, 7.1% had defaulted and 14.5% had transferred out. Sputum conversion after the 2-month intensive phase was 88%, and increased to 99% after 7 months of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The involvement of the Tanzania NTLP in collaboration with health NGOs has led to a satisfactory outcome. These data suggest that it is possible for tuberculosis control programmes to perform successfully in refugee settings.
Authors: Malvika Verma; Karan Vishwanath; Feyisope Eweje; Niclas Roxhed; Tyler Grant; Macy Castaneda; Christoph Steiger; Hormoz Mazdiyasni; Taylor Bensel; Daniel Minahan; Vance Soares; John A F Salama; Aaron Lopes; Kaitlyn Hess; Cody Cleveland; Daniel J Fulop; Alison Hayward; Joy Collins; Siddartha M Tamang; Tiffany Hua; Chinonyelum Ikeanyi; Gal Zeidman; Elizabeth Mule; Sooraj Boominathan; Ellena Popova; Jonathan B Miller; Andrew M Bellinger; David Collins; Dalia Leibowitz; Shelly Batra; Sandeep Ahuja; Manju Bajiya; Sonali Batra; Rohit Sarin; Upasna Agarwal; Sunil D Khaparde; Neeraj K Gupta; Deepak Gupta; Anuj K Bhatnagar; Kamal K Chopra; Nandini Sharma; Ashwani Khanna; Jayeeta Chowdhury; Robert Stoner; Alexander H Slocum; Michael J Cima; Jennifer Furin; Robert Langer; Giovanni Traverso Journal: Sci Transl Med Date: 2019-03-13 Impact factor: 17.956