Northeastern Spotlight

Spring 2018 Volume 13 – Number 1

Training Highlights

New York City Annual World TB Day: TB Then and Now: Looking Back, Looking Forward

 Dr. Thomas Freiden during his presentation at the conference

In commemoration of World TB Day, Global Tuberculosis Institute collaborated with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Bureau of TB Control, NYU School of Medicine, and NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue to host a conference on March 26th.

The conference highlighted current and emerging topics in TB, including the state of TB in NYC, exploring factors that determine infectiousness and transmission of TB, the role of shorter regimens for the treatment of MDR TB and applicability in the US, and current drugs in the pipeline with novel mechanisms of action and ongoing trials that seek to shorten treatment and optimize patient outcomes. 
Dr. Thomas Frieden, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vital Strategies at The Union (and former Director of the CDC) gave the keynote address which acknowledged historic milestones in the fight against TB in New York City at the height of TB resurgence in the 1990s and how this can serve as a model for broader public practice. His inspirational talk resonated with the attendees, many of whom worked in NYC at the time he was Commissioner of NYC DOHMH, and who are meeting the challenge of not forgetting how much progress has been made and persisting in core principles of TB prevention and control.  

The conference had a lineup of renowned TB experts including, Dr. Edward Nardell, Dr. Charles Daley, and Dr. Lee Reichman, who shared insights on infection control, new regimens for drug resistant TB and a look back at why we need an intensified effort toward TB elimination in the presence of declining TB rates and reduced resources for TB programs. Patient advocates, Nauman Rana and Kate O’Brien, moved the audience to tears by sharing personal stories of their battle with TB. The conference concluded with an interactive discussion of strategies for TB elimination, which was centered around responses from the audience relating to opportunities and barriers to testing and treatment for TB infection. The NYC DOHMH Bureau of TB Control plans to continue this discussion with key stakeholders at their Tuberculosis Summit on Friday, June 29th which will kick off a larger strategic planning process for TB elimination in NYC.  

 
Panel discussion with patient advocates Kate O'Brien and Nauman Rana

This was by far the most widely attended conference with approximately 300 physicians, nurses, TB control staff and other health professionals. Attendees felt that the conference was inspiring and amazing!

Submitted by Arpita Jindani, MSW, MA – Health Educator

TB Nurse Case Conference

The Global Tuberculosis Institute hosted the first of a quarterly TB Nurse Case Conference webinar series which will be held in 2018. On April 11, 2018, Marybeth Caruso, RN, Nursing Division Director of Middlesex County Office of Health Services in East Brunswick , NJ, presented a TB case which was complicated by adverse drug reactions and necessitated treatment essentially as MDR TB. The nurses who participated enjoyed hearing about a real case which help put into context all of the nurse case management issues involved in caring for an individual with TB. This purpose of this webinar series is to provide an opportunity for nurses in the Northeastern region to share interesting or challenging cases, discuss case management strategies and approaches, and share experiences and tools with one another.

For additional information, or to let us know if there are any cases you think would be good to discuss either for getting input from others or for the educational value please contact Amy Lewis (lewisa1@rutgers.edu) or Patty Woods (patty.woods@rutgers.edu).

Submitted by Amy Lewis, MPH – Health Educator