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PRE-CONSORTIUM MEETING
Held on September 7th,
2002 at UTSPH-Brownsville
At a meeting held on
September 7th, 2002, at Brownsville the decision was reached
to proceed immediately to form a consortium, share data and prepare for
binational collaborative research. The group is very aware that the
border area needs more effective tools for surveillance and contact
tracing, adapted specifically for this unique culture. Major concern was
expressed about the continuing increase in MDR-TB and the lack of common
tools and shared knowledge with which to fight the epidemic. Three major
problems were identified:
1.
Members of the group had
various, extensive but incomplete data sets, none of which had ever been
merged or analyzed for the region as a whole, and there was no plan to
do so. In particular, molecular genotyping data in San Antonio and
Houston were not in the hands of the public health authorities in the
LRGV, San Antonio and Houston did not have access to the detailed
demographic data in the public health offices in the LRGV. In Mexico,
similarly extensive data sets resided in several locations in various
formats, including some molecular genotyping data which is currently in
Texas.
2.
Laboratory resources are
inadequate locally. Isolation and drug sensitivity testing is available
in south Texas routinely and in Monterrey erratically, but not
elsewhere. There is no molecular typing capability, even though the
laboratories which could perform these tasks are in place in Monterrey
and Brownsville.
3.
Recent studies in Houston
have shown what consortium members had
suspected for a long time. Less than 20% of TB cases can identify by
name a TB case in the same cluster. Contact tracing based on obtaining
only a list of contacts from cases leaves substantial gaps. Many new TB
patients may not know their source of infection. Given the complex
social patterns of behavior and movement across the border, the classic
technique of contact tracing is also proving to be inadequate.
Refinement and development of additional contact tracing techniques
specific for the LRGV area are sorely needed.
Table
1: List of members invited to the meeting with their participating
institutions and expertise that will be brought to bear on the research.
* denote attendees at September 7th 2002 meeting at which the
decision to form the consortium was made.
|
Institution |
Name and degrees |
Expertise |
|
|
Texas |
|
UT Houston School of
Public Health, Regional Campus at Brownsville |
*Joseph McCormick, MD |
James H. Steele
Professor Epidemiology. Assistant Dean of the UT Houston School of Public
Health Regional Campus at Brownsville |
Principal Investigator |
|
*§Susan P. Fisher-Hoch,
MD |
Professor, Biological
Sciences, laboratory expertise |
|
|
*Blanca I Restrepo |
Biological Sciences,
field and laboratory expertise |
|
*Adriana Perez, PhD |
Assistant Professor,
Biostatistics |
|
|
*Belinda Reininger, PhD |
Assistant Professor,
Behavioral Sciences |
|
Dept. of Pathology,
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston |
*§Edward Graviss, PhD |
Epidemiology of
tuberculosis. Social network analysis. Molecular data and laboratory
facilities and expertise. PI, Texas TDH tuberculosis consortium |
|
|
Dpt. Microbiology, South
Texas Centers for Biology in Medicine, San Antonio |
*Teresa Quitugua, PhD |
Molecular data, and
laboratory facilities and expertise. |
|
Texas Department of
Health, Region 11 |
*Brian Smith, MD |
Director, Texas
Department of Health, Region 11h |
|
Cynthia Tafolla |
TDH Region 11
Tuberculosis Elimination Program |
|
|
Domingo Navarro |
|
Texas Department of
Health-Austin |
Bruce Elliott |
Director, TDH State laboratory |
|
Hidalgo County Health
Department |
*Rosa Morales |
Director, Hidalgo County
TB elimination program |
|
Cameron County Health
Department |
*Yvette Salinas |
Director, Cameron County
Health Department |
|
Esmeralda Guajardo |
Deputy Director, Cameron
County Health Department |
|
South Texas Health Care
Center, Harlingen |
Mary Diaz
Aurora
Martinez |
Director |
|
Interim director,
Tuberculosis laboratory |
|
City of Laredo Health
Department |
Hector
Gonzales |
TB elimination program,
Laredo |
|
Jose Flores |
|
Mexico |
|
Universidad
Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon |
*Adrian
Rendon, MD |
Clinical and molecular
tuberculosis studies. Molecular and field data. TB research program and
laboratory, Monterrey |
|
|
*Hugo
Barrera, PhD |
Molecular
laboratory facilities and expertise |
|
|
Seguridad
Social, Tamaulipas |
*Horacio
Ramírez Oropesa |
Physician. Tuberculosis
control |
Matamoros |
|
|
Jurisdicción
Sanitaria III, Tamaulipas |
*José Luis
Robles |
TB
elimination program, Jurisdicción III, Matamoros |
|
Francisco
Mora |
|
*Ernesto
Chanes |
|
*José Borrego |
Valle Hermoso |
|
Jurisdicción
Sanitaria IV, Tamaulipas |
Jose Luis
Hernandez Cantu
Magín Pereda |
As above, Jurisdiccion
Sanitaria IV |
Reynosa |
|
Jurisdicción
Sanitaria V, Tamaulipas |
Bernardo
Rámirez Mante |
As above,
Jurisdicción Sanitaria V,
|
Nuevo Laredo |
|
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