NIAID Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT) and Hepatitis Diagnostics

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), continues to be one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide, particularly among people living with HIV (PWH), with an estimated 10 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths annually. Globally, HIV-associated TB remains a major public health concern, accounting for 8% of all new cases and 14% of all TB-related deaths in 2020. PWH are 15-21 times more likely to develop active TB compared to those who are HIV negative; and are the most vulnerable to drug-resistant TB. There is an urgent need to identify novel and improved prevention, treatment, and diagnostic strategies that are safe, well-tolerated, and efficacious against drug-susceptible and drug-resistant strains of MTB. The Regional Prospective Observational Research in TB (RePORT) program, and RePORT International Collaborating Center (RICC), is a global network of observational cohorts based in India, Brazil, South Africa, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and represents a funding partnership between the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Division of AIDS (DAIDS) and the National Health and Science ministries of host countries to advance high priority TB and TB/HIV science. HIV and viral hepatitis infections due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are major public health burdens and share common modes of transmission and social and structural barriers to accessing care and services among key populations. Of the estimated 38 million PWH, 2.7 and 2.3 million people are estimated to be coinfected with HBV and HCV. Coinfection with HIV significantly impacts the pathogenesis of HBV and HCV and is associated with rapid disease progression and increased risk of morbidity and death due to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Integrated strategies for screening and diagnosis of HIV and viral hepatitis infections are therefore critical to an effective global health response.