The most important advance in infectious diseases

Somia Iqtadar, MBBS, is an associate professor of medicine at King Edward Medical University, Pakistan, and chairperson of the Dengue Expert Advisory Group.

If you were to name the most important recent advance in infectious diseases that is relevant for everyday practice, what would it be?

Tuberculosis, particularly in Asian countries, is a huge challenge because there are many cases reported worldwide of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant and extended drug-resistant tuberculosis. I think it’s becoming very challenging, with increasing antimicrobial resistance, to treat these patients.

With the newer techniques like GeneXpert, novel drugs, and repurposed drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis, we are now able to treat this condition better and I think it’s a major advancement in the infectious disease sector.