NRITLD-GDS Tuberculosis and Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Online Course

(Four-Week)

About Course:

Tuberculosis is the leading infectious disease killer and the ninth cause of death globally, affecting close to 11 million people a year with 1.4 million deaths. Multidrug-resistant TB affects half a million people annually and is a growing threat to public health and a significant obstacle to eliminating this scourge of humanity. This program will provide a comprehensive overview of the geographical distribution of tuberculosis, prevention, diagnosis, and management of TB. The program is offered through distance learning and allows students to access the course online. It provides an excellent structured learning platform for trainees and professionals to develop their skills in this field. Prominent international experts will give lectures in this field, and the latest references and techniques will be presented to the students. In fact, it is an opportunity to acquire skills in research and development, public health, and other knowledge about tuberculosis.

briefly, the microbiological, geographical distribution of tuberculosis (M. TB), the infrastructure of TB laboratories, routine diagnosis, different methodologies for DNA extraction, Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST), identification, biosafety testing, and quality control in TB laboratories will also be addressed. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous in our environment. These infections are under-recognized and cause significant morbidity and mortality, worldwide. With so much advances in molecular methods, the transmission of huge number of mycobacteria called non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM) is still under a question. Till date, the majority of work have been focused on tuberculosis (TB) complex mycobacteria, the knowledge of human-to-human, environmental, animal-to-human transmission, and vice versa susceptibility, and most of their NTM genomic structures have been ignored, especially in limited-resource countries.

This program is designed considering the importance of these opportunistic microorganisms that cause pulmonary and extrapulmonary infections. This new program will provide a comprehensive overview of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) with an emphasis on the prevention, diagnosis, and its management.

The student and/or researcher are allowed to assess the distance by Online Course which can provide an excellent structured learning platform for trainees and professionals. Prominent international experts will give lectures in this field, with the latest references and techniques.

Course content:

Title: Welcoming message EmRO-Region

Title: History of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), which has always been a constant challenge throughout human history due to its severe social consequences. In this section, the history of tuberculosis will be discussed from the beginning until up-to-date. Students will be familiar with the history of tuberculosis infection, treatment, diagnosis and vaccine production.

Title: Introduction to Tuberculosis

In this section topics such as taxonomic classification, virulence, cell division, cell wall, and recent advances in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis will be presented.

Title: TB Diagnostics

Title: Infrastructure and biosafety conditions of TB laboratories

Quality Control, Good laboratory practice, safety and Biosafety of the TB laboratory in three levels (provisional, regional, and central biosafety levels 3) will be discussed.

Title: Drug-resistant Tuberculosis, new treatment recommendations and its consequences for the diagnostic laboratories

A comprehensive overview of multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The student will be familiar with different detection methods of Drug Susceptibility Testing for First and Second Line Anti-TB Drugs (RIF, INH, and EMB)/ (AMK, CAN, and CIP/OFX) using classical and molecular tests.

Title: Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM)

Title: Identification and Drug susceptibility testing (DST) of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM)

The mortality incidence from nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections has been steadily developing globally. Nevertheless, the emergence of highly resistant NTM to different antibiotics and disinfectants increased the importance of these agents in the health system. This is of concern as the resistant NTM are difficult to control and treat. The most important mechanisms of NTM resistance not only to antibiotics but also to the most common disinfectants will be reviewed.  Also, different molecular techniques will be discussed.

Title: Sequencing TB – Introduction and dry practical

This section includes an introduction to WGS, WGS applications, Mtb WGS online analysis tools, WGS for Mtb phylogeny and cluster analysis, as well as WGS for drug resistance.

Title: Latest WHO updates on DS-TB and DR-TB case management

An overview of the public health aspects of tuberculosis (TB) with an emphasis on theory, guidelines, and techniques will be taught. The students will review the strategic planning, management risk factor, and National TB Program.

Facilitator: Mahshid Nasehi / Co-facilitator: Parissa-Farnia

Title: Geographical information system in TB

The geographical distribution of tuberculosis will be discussed using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information. GIS analysis combined with molecular epidemiological surveillance can be an effective method for identifying tuberculosis. The updated information about prevalence and risk factors will be presented by using different examples.

Facilitator: Parissa-Farnia / Lecture by: Poopak -Farnia / Co-facilitator: Jafar Aghajani

Title: Global Burden of TB

The infrastructure of TB laboratory networks will be explained. e.g., provisional, regional, and biosafety levels 3(BSL-3), Standard operating procedures will be explained.

Facilitator: Matthew Bates / Lecture by: Najmul Hader / Workshop by: John Tembo / Co-facilitator: Parisa Farnia

Title: Mycobacterium leprae and leprosy

Lecture: Bouke de Jong, Sofie Braet 

Entry requirements:

i) People working in the mycobacteria field. Medical students.
ii) Any interested individual with background of medicine / pulmonologist /cardiologist / infectious diseases/ biological sciences/ allied health sciences from any countries are eligible to apply for this course.
iii) Personal statement explaining the reasons for applying for this course and what the candidate hopes to gain.
iv) Clinical/academic letter of reference.

Months of entry:

September – October

Location:

Online

Language:

English

Number of participants (maximum):

50

please contact course organizers:

Prof. Parissa Farina pfarnia@hotmail.com

To register for the course, please fill out the registration form here.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..