title: Connectivity of diagnostic technologies: improving surveillance and accelerating tuberculosis elimination.
abstract: In regard to tuberculosis (TB) and other major global epidemics, the use of new diagnostic tests is increasing dramatically, including in resource-limited countries. Although there has never been as much digital information generated, this data source has not been exploited to its full potential. In this opinion paper, we discuss lessons learned from the global scale-up of these laboratory devices and the pathway to tapping the potential of laboratory-generated information in the field of TB by using connectivity. Responding to the demand for connectivity, innovative third-party players have proposed solutions that have been widely adopted by field users of the Xpert(®) MTB/RIF assay. The experience associated with the utilisation of these systems, which facilitate the monitoring of wide laboratory networks, stressed the need for a more global and comprehensive approach to diagnostic connectivity. In addition to facilitating the reporting of test results, the mobility of digital information allows the sharing of information generated in programme settings. When they become easily accessible, these data can be used to improve patient care, disease surveillance and drug discovery. They should therefore be considered as a public health good. We list several examples of concrete initiatives that should allow data sources to be combined to improve the understanding of the epidemic, support the operational response and, finally, accelerate TB elimination. With the many opportunities that the pooling of data associated with the TB epidemic can provide, pooling of this information at an international level has become an absolute priority.
authors.affiliation: Pôle de Microbiologie Médicale, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; Service de Microbiologie, Département de Biologie Clinique, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium; European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC), ESCMID, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Andre
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Isaacs
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Abomey-Calavi University, Cotonou, National Tuberculosis Programme, Cotonou, Benin.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Affolabi
authors.affiliation: TB Supranational Reference Laboratory, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alagna
authors.affiliation: Institute for Theoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Epidemiological Modelling of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brockmann
authors.affiliation: Unit of Mycobacteriology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.affiliation: European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC), ESCMID, Basel, Switzerland; Université Paris Diderot, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité mixte de recherche 1137, Infection, Antimicrobiens, Modélisation, Evolution, Paris, Bactériologie, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cambau
authors.affiliation: Aurum Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Churchyard
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Pôle de Microbiologie Médicale, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; Service de Microbiologie, Département de Biologie Clinique, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delmee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, Centre for Operations Research and Econometrics, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: J-C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Delvenne
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farhat
authors.affiliation: Interactive Health Solutions, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.affiliation: Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Holme
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School Center for Global Health Delivery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keshavjee
authors.affiliation: Interactive Research and Development, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lightfoot
authors.affiliation: TB Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Department of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: UNITAID, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mundade
authors.affiliation: McGill International TB Centre & McGill Global Health Programs, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pai
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Management Sciences for Health, Gauteng, South Africa.
authors.forename: A U
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Nyaruhirira
authors.affiliation: Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, Université de Namur, Namur, Belgium.
authors.forename: L E C
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Global Connectivity LLC, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takle
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trébucq
authors.affiliation: Stop TB Partnership, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Creswell
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boehme
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000639:trends; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000639:trends; D058872:Epidemics; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000639:trends; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic