Tuberculosis treatment in a refugee and migrant population: 20 years of experience on the Thai-Burmese border.

SETTING: Although tuberculosis (TB) is a curable disease, it remains a major global health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality among vulnerable populations, including refugees and migrants. OBJECTIVE: To describe results and experiences over 20 years at a TB programme in refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border in Tak Province, Thailand, and to identify risk factors associated with adverse outcomes (e.g., default, failure, death). DESIGN: Retrospective review of routine records of 2425 patients admitted for TB treatment in the Mae La TB programme between May 1987 and December 2005. RESULTS: TB cases notified among refugees decreased over 20 years. Among patients treated with a first-, second- or third-line regimen, 77.5% had a successful outcome, 13.5% defaulted, 7.6% died and 1.3% failed treatment. Multivariate analysis for new cases showed higher likelihood of adverse outcomes for patients who were Burmese migrants or Thai villagers, male, aged >15 years or with smear-negative pulmonary TB. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that treatment outcomes depend on the programme's capacity to respond to specific patients' constraints. High-risk groups, such as migrant populations, need a patient-centred approach, and specific, innovative strategies have to be developed based on the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalised populations.

Ceftriaxone as effective as long-acting chloramphenicol in short-course treatment of meningococcal meningitis during epidemics: a randomised non-inferiority study.

BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s, more than 600,000 people had epidemic meningococcal meningitis, of whom 10% died. The current recommended treatment by WHO is short-course long-acting oily chloramphenicol. Continuation of the production of this drug is uncertain, so simple alternatives need to be found. We assessed whether the efficacy of single-dose treatment of ceftriaxone was non-inferior to that of oily chloramphenicol for epidemic meningococcal meningitis. METHODS: In 2003, we undertook a randomised, open-label, non-inferiority trial in nine health-care facilities in Niger. Participants with suspected disease who were older than 2 months were randomly assigned to receive either chloramphenicol or ceftriaxone. Primary outcome was treatment failure (defined as death or clinical failure) at 72 h, measured with intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses. FINDINGS: Of 510 individuals with suspected disease, 247 received ceftriaxone, 256 received chloramphenicol, and seven were lost to follow-up. The treatment failure rate at 72 h for the intention-to-treat analysis was 9% (22 patients) for both drug groups (risk difference 0.3%, 90% CI -3.8 to 4.5). Case fatality rates and clinical failure rates were equivalent in both treatment groups (14 [6%] ceftriaxone vs 12 [5%] chloramphenicol). Results were also similar for both treatment groups in individuals with confirmed meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis. No adverse side-effects were reported. INTERPRETATION: Single-dose ceftriaxone provides an alternative treatment for epidemic meningococcal meningitis--its efficacy, ease of use, and low cost favour its use. National and international health partners should consider ceftriaxone as an alternative first-line treatment to chloramphenicol for epidemic meningococcal meningitis.

Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in serum and CSF of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense sleeping sickness patients before and after treatment.

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma were determined in 46 Trypanosoma brucei gambiense sleeping sickness patients in DR Congo, before and after treatment. According to their CSF cell number before treatment, patients were classified as early-stage (0-5 cells/microL), intermediate-stage (6-20 cells/microL) or late-stage patients (> 20 cells/microL). In serum, slightly higher IL-8 concentrations were found in early-stage patients compared to intermediate- or late-stage patients. These high IL-8 levels dropped after treatment. Higher IL-10 concentrations were detected in serum of patients in intermediate or late stage compared to early-stage patients. In both intermediate- and late-stage groups, serum IL-10 decreased after treatment. In CSF, elevated concentrations of IL-6, IL-8 and especially of IL-10 were observed in late-stage T. b. gambiense patients. After treatment, these concentrations dropped to levels similar to those of the other patients. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha was detected only in a few serum and CSF samples, which were scattered over the different patient groups. Interferon-gamma was detected in serum of 5 patients and remained undetectable in CSF.