Knowledge gaps and research priorities for understanding the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other airborne infections

Despite 5 years of SARS-CoV-2 research, as well as decades of research on tuberculosis (TB), large gaps remain in understanding the transmission of airborne pathogens. Our aim was to delineate these gaps. Understanding them would enable evidence-based, practical efforts to reduce transmission. Building upon the 2017 Roadmap for TB Transmission Science, we interviewed experts in the field and identified six salient topics harboring holes in knowledge that impede prevention and control efforts. These include 1) fundamental elements of aerobiology, 2) detecting and measuring infectious respiratory particles directly in the air, 3) the infectiousness of asymptomatic TB (by extension, other lung infections) and 4) of calm tidal breathing – including their contributions to global epidemiology, 5) the role of ‘superspreading’ in disease incidence, and 6) the duration of infectiousness of highly drug-resistant TB treated with the newest, all-oral short-course regimens. Based on an extensive literature review, we update advances in science since 2017 and then summarize knowledge gaps and research priorities. Several recent systematic reviews all noted the relatively low quality of published research, so there is an overriding need for high-quality studies to provide evidence for national and international entities upon which to base recommendations, guidelines, and standards.

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Publication Details

Journal
International journal of infection control
Published
2025-10-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3396/ijic.v21.23851
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.40
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article

Knowledge gaps and research priorities for understanding the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other airborne infections

Anita Rani Kansal, Carrie Tudor, Avinash Kanchar, Grigory Volchenkov et al.
1 citations
International journal of infection control
Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
1.40
article

Knowledge gaps and research priorities for understanding the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other airborne infections

Anita Rani Kansal, Carrie Tudor, Avinash Kanchar, Grigory Volchenkov, Jako A Nice, Sevim Ahmedov, Gyanshankar Mishra, Emily E Evans, J. Peter Cegielski, Matsie Mphahlele, Richard L. Vincent, Edward A. Nardell, Paul Jensen, Michael Marll, Martie van der Walt, Varvara Vauhkonen, Yuhong Liu, Jun Cheng, Jerod Scholten, Chih‐Chung Lin, Collin Dubick, Helene Mari Van der Westhuizen
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Despite 5 years of SARS-CoV-2 research, as well as decades of research on tuberculosis (TB), large gaps remain in understanding the transmission of airborne pathogens. Our aim was to delineate these gaps. Understanding them would enable evidence-based, practical efforts to reduce transmission. Building upon the 2017 Roadmap for TB Transmission Science, we interviewed experts in the field and identified six salient topics harboring holes in knowledge that impede prevention and control efforts. These include 1) fundamental elements of aerobiology, 2) detecting and measuring infectious respiratory particles directly in the air, 3) the infectiousness of asymptomatic TB (by extension, other lung infections) and 4) of calm tidal breathing – including their contributions to global epidemiology, 5) the role of ‘superspreading’ in disease incidence, and 6) the duration of infectiousness of highly drug-resistant TB treated with the newest, all-oral short-course regimens. Based on an extensive literature review, we update advances in science since 2017 and then summarize knowledge gaps and research priorities. Several recent systematic reviews all noted the relatively low quality of published research, so there is an overriding need for high-quality studies to provide evidence for national and international entities upon which to base recommendations, guidelines, and standards.

International journal of infection controlVol. 21
Tshwane University of Technology (ZA), Johns Hopkins University (US), Emory University (US), Government Medical College (IN), Capital Medical University (CN), Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CN), TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (NL), University of Oxford (GB), LRS Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (IN), World Health Organization (CH), Beijing Chest Hospital (CN), Vladimir State University (RU), Aurum Institute (ZA), Center for Global Health (US), Vladimir Law Institute (RU), Woman's Hospital (US), Vladimir Institute of Business (RU), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 15%
Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
1.40
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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