Vaccines have played a major role in our efforts to control many bacterial and viral infectious diseases. Smallpox is the classical example of a viral disease that has been eradicated primarily by using an effective vaccine.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection accounts for the highest number of human deaths in low- and middle-income countries of the world. Mtb is also the most common opportunistic infection accompanying HIV infection. The death rate for combined Mtb/HIV infection is almost three-fold higher when compared to Mtb infection of HIV-seronegative patients, and the increase is not due simply to depletion of CD4 T cells due to HIV. The increased risk of mortality is due to a syndemic interaction between the two pathogens that leads to advanced immunodeficiency, chronic immune activation, and increased disease dissemination. Because of the synergy, eradication of MTB is dependent on the eradication of HIV. Though HIV/AIDS is often described as incurable, the recent “shock-and-kill” strategy to eradicate HIV holds promise for the eradication of MTB. Coinfection also amplifies transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB), which, besides requiring longer treatment, has a very low success rate. Pending effective vaccine development, there is a need to identify newer targets for the development of drugs to treat MDRTB & XDR-TB.

Tuberculosis in captive Asian elephants has been a subject of interest among the experts and practitioners for the past few decades. During COVID -19 pandemic, the zoos remained closed, and the caregivers had to spend extended hours in the enclosures to help the elephants get rid of boredom and depression. Such proximity enhanced the chance of TB transmission from elephants to human bodies. Hence, effective measures are needed for the early detection of TB infection in captive elephants to curb further transmission. 

TB is a severe disease but people, in general, are uninformed. We brush off the TB related concerns as unrequired. In this article, we have summed up some relevant information concerning TB. It is also essential to understand that there is enough information about TB across various websites. Still, there is a lack of initiatives to present them in an organized manner to the public. 

The lessons we are learning from COVID-19 pandemic can be transformative. Of course, the shortcomings in health care in each country have been exposed. However, the collaboration demonstrated by public and private sectors across the globe to find a solution is unprecedented. In our first issue of TBinfo, our appeal is to propagate the initiatives to address equally threatening infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis.

The world health organization has predicted high mortality rates due to infection by drug-resistant pathogens and has called for taking urgent measures to mitigate the crisis (WHO Report , 2019). While several national and international bodies have taken initiatives for finding new antibiotics, a less enthusiastic R&D by pharmaceutical companies towards antimicrobial drug discovery has aggravated the crisis globally. The alarming rate of occurrence of multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant t uberculosis (XDR-TB) therefore mandates pacing up the efforts to discover new drugs as well as explore alternative options with open mind.