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Tuberculosis in the Mediterranean Region

  • Tropical Medicine in the Mediterranean Region (F Bruschi, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The present review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology, with a special focus on the situation in the countries of the Mediterranean region.

Recent Findings

The year 2015 was of crucial importance for the global strategy of TB control: the previous “Stop TB Strategy” came to the end, achieving remarkable results, and a new program, called “End TB Strategy”, was issued by the World Health Organization.

Summary

Mediterranean countries range from low- to intermediate TB-burden, but they present great variability in terms of healthcare access and programs for TB/drug-resistant TB control. Moreover, humanitarian emergencies are now affecting several parts of the Mediterranean region, with a significant impact on the local TB epidemiology. The spread of drug-resistant TB remains a major concern. In this regard, for the first time after 50 years, two new anti-TB drugs were approved and released in 2012/2013. Moreover, “old drugs” have been repurposed within new regimens, whose efficacy and tolerability are now under investigation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Unità Malattie Infettive, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Largo Brambilla 3, 50134, Florence, Italy

    Michele Spinicci, Lorenzo Zammarchi & Alessandro Bartoloni

  2. SOD Malattie Infettive e Tropicali, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy

    Alessandro Bartoloni

Authors
  1. Michele Spinicci
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  2. Lorenzo Zammarchi
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  3. Alessandro Bartoloni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandro Bartoloni.

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Conflict of Interest

Michele Spinicci, Lorenzo Zammarchi, and Alessandro Bartoloni declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Tropical Medicine in the Mediterranean Region

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Spinicci, M., Zammarchi, L. & Bartoloni, A. Tuberculosis in the Mediterranean Region. Curr Trop Med Rep 4, 89–94 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-017-0108-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-017-0108-4

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