It's been 10 years since we published our first review of sex differences in #TB prevalence. In this update, we found men remain twice as likely as women to have TB, and disparities have likely widened over time. journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

We updated our review of sex diff. in #TB prevalence In 102 surveys (4.7M participants) men were 2x as likely to have TB than women Evidence consistent with sex differences widening over time 🧪🛟 journals.plos.org/plosmedicine... @nswartwood.bsky.social @kchorton.bsky.social @uofgshw.bsky.social

⏳ One week until applications close | Apply by 23:30 BST, Wed 20 May 2026. 2️⃣ senior academic leader roles to work with Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme (MLW) Data Science & Computational Modelling Unit + Civic Health Innovation Labs (CHIL) @liverpooluni.bsky.social.

TB is preventable and curable - yet millions are still affected every year. The problem isn’t just medical. It’s social, structural, and gendered. This video shows how LIGHT is working with communities to change that. 🎥 Watch here: youtu.be/aaHVqoMTw2E?... #EndTB #GlobalHealth #HealthEquity

Out now! Our preprint reviewing effects of extreme weather events on TB. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... @mjsaunder.bsky.social with Lauren Linde & Leo Martinez @bostonu.bsky.social & many others @tb-lshtm.bsky.social @lshtm-tbmod.bsky.social @lshtm-planet.bsky.social

Fantastic video from @lightontb.bsky.social PhD student Dr Mphatso Phiri, summarising the research he has been leading in Malawi 🇲🇼 to reduce men’s risk of #TB, and benefit men, women and children.

Why are men more affected by TB in Malawi? Higher exposure starts in adolescence-linked to smoking, alcohol use & high-risk environments. Good news:mobile, community TB testing is reaching more men & connecting them to care. Tackling TB in men protects whole communities: youtu.be/wMP4f05lgHM?...

🎧Listen to The TBPod with @petermacp.bsky.social discussing an urban-rural tuberculosis prevalence meta-analysis, revealing substantial regional variation and a global trend towards urbanisation of #TB Podcast - www.buzzsprout.com/851944/episo... Paper - journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

Very pleased to be awarded an NIHR Global Health Research Professorship! Will work with partners in Malawi to investigate new approaches to using AI to support #TB diagnosis. @nihr.bsky.social @uofgnews.bsky.social @uofgshw.bsky.social @uofgmvls.bsky.social

@petermacp.bsky.social has received an @nihr.bsky.social Global Health Research Professorship. He will work with partners in Malawi to investigate a new approach to artificial intelligence testing for tuberculosis #TB @uofgnews.bsky.social @uofgmvls.bsky.social www.gla.ac.uk/schools/heal...

In our latest paper in @plosmedicine.org, we explore trade-offs in diagnostic algorithm, coverage, and duration of community screening for #TB, highlighting the importance of symptom-agnostic approaches and the need for strategies to sustain impact when screening ends. plos.io/4tuD2SM

We found that #TB epidemics are becoming increasingly urbanised. Important implications for supporting effective public health interventions to end tuberculosis epidemics. 🧪 #MedSky @uofgshw.bsky.social @kchorton.bsky.social @nswartwood.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

In this systematic review & meta-analysis, Mortazavi & colleagues (@petermacp.bsky.social) investigate urban vs rural differences in #TB prevalence between 2000 and 2024 in 26 low- and middle-income countries, finding that TB epidemics have become increasingly urbanized 🧪 #MedSky plos.io/3O79BqY

In meta-analysis of national and subnational #TB prevalence surveys, we found that between 2000-2024, tuberculosis epidemics are rapidly urbanising. doi.org/10.1371/jour... @plosmedicine.org @uofgshw.bsky.social @kchorton.bsky.social

New study led by @alexandra-richards.bsky.social. Reducing men’s TB risk and improving treatment access could have big impacts on #TB incidence and deaths for men, women, and children. www.nature.com/articles/s43... @kchorton.bsky.social @uofgshw.bsky.social @lightontb.bsky.social

What if targeting TB in men could benefit entire populations? This new modelling study from @alexandra-richards.bsky.social suggests exactly that 👇 ✔️ More treatment coverage ✔️ Address social & structural risks 👉 Big reductions in TB incidence & mortality 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s43...

This #WorldTBday is a honour to be in Blantyre, Malawi, where we kicked off recruitment into the @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded ZAMSA-TB study. The team are developing new epidemiological methods to measure future vaccine effectiveness in the community.

Our first TBPod episode of 2026 is live! 🎧 Dr Peter MacPherson breaks down HIV–TB care, urban TB trends & diagnostic advances. Listen below! www.buzzsprout.com/851944/episo...

Our analysis of #TB exposure and transmission patterns is now in @pnas.org. @petedodd24.bsky.social and I found a majority of TB transmission globally is attributable to contact with adult men, while contributions to transmission by age are more variable across regions. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Apply by 11th May to do a PhD @lshtm.bsky.social Work with epidemiologists, social scientists & modellers to understand quality of life measures in Syphilis and develop evidence on cost-effectiveness of interventions & public health strategies. @thelovetankcic.bsky.social @joetucker.bsky.social

In this modeling study, Allison Portnoy and colleagues investigate the potential impact of reduced international donor funding on the household economic burden of tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries 🧪 #MedSky #TB plos.io/4ryyBFX

1/📢 In our new publication, we estimate that in 2022, 134 million people worldwide had a recent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection and were at high risk of progressing to TB disease. Read the full paper in PLOS Medicine (tinyurl.com/mtbinfection). #TBSky

Very please to share the results of the SaDAPT Trial. In Malawi and Lesotho, same-day initiation for ART for #HIV in people with #TB symptoms was non-inferior to ART initiation after TB investigations, and with no safety concerns. authors.elsevier.com/c/1mb~68MsVo... @uofgshw.bsky.social

One of the pleasures of my academic job is my role as an Academic Editor for PLOS Medicine.

Next up in our 'meet the editors' is Academic Editor Peter MacPherson (@petermacp.bsky.social), Professor of Global Public Health and Head of Public Health at the University of Glasgow. Peter also specializes in infectious disease epidemiology, tuberculosis, HIV, and evidence synthesis 🧪 #MedSky

We are recruiting! We are looking for statistical methodologists at Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow level for our new Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) in Clinical Trial Innovation. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please share! www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

Our Editor’s Choice commentary in @cidjournal.bsky.social finds that reported TB symptoms are an inadequate classifier of disease state, as they are heavily influenced by context and substantial interviewer variability, and may have alternative causes. Read more here👇🏻 doi.org/10.1093/cid/...

🚨Fully-funded PhD opportunity!🚨 Interested in researching how to improve risk prediction for people with #tuberculosis #TB and #multimorbidity? Joint project between @uofgshw.bsky.social 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and @ki.se 🇸🇪, funded by UK MRC. Details here⬇️ www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Latent #tuberculosis (TB) infection screening programmes for migrants from high to low TB incidence countries can be effective and cost-saving in a variety of settings. New study by @petermacp.bsky.social @alice-e-taylor.bsky.social @publichealthscot.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Ahead of The Union World Conference on Lung Health, Katherine Horton provides @the-independent.com with insights into the devastating impact of the funding cuts on global health, particularly tuberculosis. Be sure to read about the threat of UK aid cuts: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Every year, ~500,000 people develop TB in Nigeria — but 30% go undiagnosed. Dr. Chukwuebuka Ugwu’s DESTINE study shows how gender-tailored, locally co-created TB interventions can close this gap. 🎥 Watch here: youtu.be/JOFzgHOwFFk?... @zanklic.bsky.social

Was very fortunate to see Counting Crows play last night… only 27 years since I last saw them play in Scotland.

With declining donor aid, Ministries of Health in high-tuberculosis burden nations need to be more ambitious, but will have to do more with less Embedding tuberculosis within the PHC and UHC agenda is an obvious way to do it www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Understanding patterns of #TB exposure and transmission is needed for targeted prevention strategies. In our latest pre-print, @petedodd24.bsky.social and I estimated the proportion of TB exposure to and transmission from sex and age groups for 177 countries. bit.ly/4nbV492

The recognition of asymptomatic #TB is both fascinating and worrying. The recognition of symptoms is the gate-keeper to so much of our public health response. Seems like another important argument for broader community access to diagnostic services!

New preprint (NOT PEER-REVIEWED) Community screening for #TB can reduce incidence. But we don’t know how best to target. Targeting based on neighbourhood ARTI from convenience samples can substantially improve health and cost-effectiveness vs untargeted screening. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

⚡️New publication⚡️ We investigated the risk and determinants of mortality in people notified with Invasive Group A Streptococcal disease in Scotland between Jan 2017 and Dec 2024. doi.org/10.1016/j.ij... @uofgshw.bsky.social

⚡️New publication⚡️ WHO clinical staging is not sufficiently accurate to identify advanced #HIV. CD4 testing remains essential to reduce morbidity and mortality. doi.org/10.1111/hiv.... @uofgshw.bsky.social @joejarvis.bsky.social

Our systematic review of rural/urban differences in #TB prevalence shows evidence of rapidly urbanising epidemics in many settings, with differences across countries and regions. Link to preprint below ⬇️

Are there more people with #TB in cities or rural areas? In a 🚨new🚨 preprint (NOT PEER REVIEWED) we modelled urban-rural TB trends from 2000-2023 in 26 countries with 4.6 billion people. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Men are more than twice as likely as women to have prevalent #TB. We did updated meta-analysis including over 4million people in 99 surveys. Despite increasing focus on gender equitable TB responses, this gap has widened since we last assessed these data over a decade ago.

6/ @petermacp.bsky.social and I seem to be the only coauthors on Bluesky, but this work comes from a great team across @hsph.harvard.edu @uofglasgow.bsky.social @tb-lshtm.bsky.social @lshtm-tbmod.bsky.social

5/ These findings show that, despite calls for gender responsive TB prevention and care, disparities have increased over the past three decades. Effective strategies to reduce men’s risk of TB and to engage men in TB prevention and care remain essential to end TB. NOT PEER REVIEWED

4/ The stability of pooled estimates doesn't mean sex ratios have remained consistent. We found evidence that male-to-female ratios likely increased 1.6% (95% CrI -1.0-6.2%) annually over the period 1994–2021, with the greatest increase in the Western Pacific region. NOT PEER REVIEWED

3/ We fitted multi-level Bayesian regression models to estimate a pooled male-to-female prevalence ratio of 2.21 (95% CrI 1.94-2.50) for bacteriologically-confirmed TB. That's the same point estimate as our previous review, but the two studies used different analytical methods. NOT PEER REVIEWED

2/ We updated our systematic review and identified 99 TB prevalence surveys reporting sex-disaggregated results (with >4 million participants) conducted between 1993 and 2024 in 33 low- or middle-income countries. NOT PEER REVIEWED

1/ It’s been 10 years (😮) since we reported that #TB prevalence was twice as high in men as in women. 📢 Our new preprint explores how sex differences have shifted with more recent national prevalence surveys and growing attention to #gender responsive TB prevention and care. bit.ly/4gqP1LH

🆕paper co-authored by @petermacp.bsky.social Key finding - Open tibia fractures result in significant costs to patients, the healthcare system and society in Malawi. Re-balancing of health budgets is needed to prioritise trauma care. doi.org/10.1371/jour...

As well as the modelling study by Molaro and colleagues that looks specifically at the effects of #health #aid reductions in #Malawi journals.plos.org/plosmedicine... @plos.org

Check out this new Perspective by #PLOSMedicine academic editor @petermacp.bsky.social and colleagues on the devastating effects on progress of health funding cuts in Africa: journals.plos.org/plosmedicine... @plos.org