The objective: to determine the status and prospects of medical care provision for socially important infectious diseases that pose a biological
threat to the population of Russia.
Subjects and methods. Data from FGSN forms no. 4, 8, 12, 14, 14 DS, 30, 33, 47, 61 were analyzed. The number of those died is presented as per the data of Rosstat. Research methods: epidemiological and statistical analysis, expert assessment, content analysis of publications and regulations.
Results. For diseases that pose a biological threat to the population (tuberculosis, HIV infection, viral hepatitis B and C), various epidemiological trends are currently observed: improved situation with tuberculosis and acute viral hepatitis B and C, stabilization with a tendency to improve in hronic viral hepatitis B and C, and stabilization in HIV infection situation.
At employable age, diseases representing a biological threat to the population and their combination as causes of death in 2018 were registered in 9.2% of those died (excluding the cause of death from external causes).
Monitoring of HIV incidence and HIV mortality in the Russian Federation and activities aimed at preventing the transmission of the disease caused by HIV, as well as viral hepatitis B and C, requires improvement. There are no FGSN forms on viral hepatitis; FGSN forms on HIV infection are to be improved. There are no registration forms for notification of HIV infection and viral hepatitis B and C cases. As a result, the indicators calculated based on data from FGSN forms and Rospotrebnadzor differ. Thus, there are no reliable data on the incidence and prevalence of HIV infection, viral hepatitis B and C.

Due to a significant decrease in tuberculosis incidence resulting from changes in the socio-economic situation in the country and properly organized work in tuberculosis care provision to the population, at present, the number of contingents of tuberculosis medical organizations does not allow closing the visit plan for TB doctors in outpatient settings and fulfilling work standards for beds in in-patient TB units. Properly organized TB service, able to work with different units and services, can help to provide medical care to patients infected with HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Setting up medical units such as Centers for Socially Important Infectious Diseases in the regions of the Russian Federation using the facilities of TB services and AIDS centers can help in the organization of control over diseases that pose a biological threat to the population of this country.

The objective of the study: to assess the effect of current chemotherapy on QT interval length in tuberculosis patients suffering from multiple/extensive drug resistance (M/XDR).
Subjects and methods. 87 patients (new cases and relapses) with destructive pulmonary MDR/XDR tuberculosis were followed up.
Results. During anti-tuberculosis therapy with regime V, the prolongation of QTc interval in the range of 450-500 ms was observed in 27.6% of MDR/XDR tuberculosis patients, which was most often recorded at the end of the 12th week of chemotherapy. The prolongation of QTc interval was reversible (in the majority of patients, QTc returned to its original values), it was not accompanied by clinical manifestations and ECG signs of ventricular arrhythmias, and did not require additional therapeutic measures (not in a single case). MDR/XDR tuberculosis patients receiving treatment with bedaquiline and fluoroquinolones need regular ECG examination to monitor changes in the QTc interval prolongation.

The objective: to analyze the results of surgical treatment of tuberculosis and non-specific arthritis of large joints of extremities by two-stage endoprosthesis replacement using cement articulating spacers saturated with antibiotics.
Subjects and methods. The prospective single-center cohort trial included 36 clinical cases in 35 patients with purulent destructive arthritis of the hip, knee, and shoulder joints, who underwent two-stage surgery from 2010 to 2018. This method implied using cement articulating spacers at the first stage of surgery followed by replacement with a prosthetic implant. Joint tuberculosis was diagnosed in 7 (20.0%) patients, all other cases were non-specific arthritis.
Results. In all 36 cases, patients underwent a full cycle of two-stage endoprosthesis replacement of joints affected by tuberculosis or non-specific infection resulting in pronounced destructive changes. In 33 clinical cases of the patients (91.67%), a positive outcome was observed with restoration of joint and extremity function in general with persistent eradication of the infection. An unfavorable outcome was obtained in 3 patients due to development of periprosthetic infection and loosening of the implant, 2 of them had tuberculous arthritis.

Impulse oscillometry (IO) possesses certain advantages (being non-invasive and requiring no special breathing maneuvers) but fundamental differences from the well-known methods of external respiration function assessment make it difficult to introduce it into clinical practice.
The objective: to evaluate specific changes in the parameters of IO in pulmonary tuberculosis patients and those with obstructive ventilation disorders. External respiration function was extensively assessed in pulmonary tuberculosis patients using IO, spirometry and body plethysmography. The classical interpretation algorithm was used and 2 groups were distinguished: 218 patients with obstructive disorders, and 90 patients without ventilation disorders. In patients with obstructive disorders, deviations of the total respiratory impedance, resistance at a frequency of 5 Hz, reactance area, and resonant frequency were the most significant. IO made it possible to identify additional disorders of mechanical properties in 11% of patients in the group without ventilation disorders according to the results of spirometry and body plethysmography. Correlation analysis in the group of patients with obstruction showed correlations of various strength between the changes in resistance and reactance with characteristics of airway obstruction assessed by traditional methods of ventilation capacity examination, and changes in static pulmonary volumes, which reflected obstructive reconstruction of the total lung capacity. OI can be used as a part of the assessment of ventilation disorders in pulmonary tuberculosis patients.

The article presents the review of publications devoted to personalized tuberculosis chemotherapy in children and adolescents with consideration of the specific course of the disease with the relevance to age. It is possible to reduce the duration of chemotherapy and the number of anti-tuberculosis drugs within the regimen. At the same time, the major criteria include results of microbiological tests of diagnostic specimens of the patient’s and/or index case and drug susceptibility tests in full both by express and traditional microbiological methods, microbiological and radiological monitoring, primarily in the intensive phase of chemotherapy. Generally, this personalized approach can assure high treatment efficacy.

The article assesses existing immunological tests aimed to detect tuberculosis infection (tuberculin skin test, IGRA, skin test with a recombinant tuberculosis allergen). The latest inventions in the development of immunological tests that can differentiate latent tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis have been analyzed. The difficulties encountered when developing such a test and conducting clinical trials have been demonstrated. The article presents the experience of the Moscow TB service in using the skin test with recombinant tuberculosis allergen as a screening method for tuberculosis infection, its ability to detect the infection at the stage of its development when preventive therapy is most effective since anti-tuberculosis drugs kill mycobacteria that are replicating but not dormant. Such tactics contributed to the incidence rate decrease both in high-risk groups and among the general population.