EU - moving on IGRA Guidelines

From the International Symposium, Research and development of new tuberculosis vaccines - Spain 3 and 4 June, 2010

Dr. Emma Huitric is the Scientific Officer for Tuberculosis at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). She has a background in anti-TB drugs and resistance-development to these, having based her PhD-studies in this field of research. Currently at ECDC, Emma’s main focus of work is new tools for tuberculosis; an area which comprises new drugs, diagnostic tools and vaccines. Within this field and under the ECDC mandate, one of the key functions within the TB programme is to provide EU-Member States with the latest, most up-to-date scientific evidence as a support for developing and improving national TB programmes. For example, the TB programme is currently developing EU-adapted guidance on the use of Interferon-Gamma Release Assays (IGRAs) for the diagnosis of latent TB infection and active TB disease. Furthermore, the ECDC recently formed a European Reference Laboratory Network for TB (ERLN-TB), represented by all MS, which will play a further important role in assuring the optimal introduction of new tools for TB as they become available. Within the area of vaccination, the ECDC has focussed on the practices of BCG-vaccination having developed a model for determining BCG vaccination strategies, which it provided to countries in the process of reassessing their BCG vaccination strategies. The ECDC TB programme is represented in several international initiatives, as it is well known that TB control and elimination cannot be attained without a global effort. This includes the StopTBPartnership sub group Introducing New Approaches and Tools for TB (INAT), and the WHO Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI).