Tom Scriba
@tomscriba.bsky.social
Professor in Immunology at University of Cape Town, Deputy Director at South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative. Views are my own.
Write-up on our latest story about the inflammatory response in asymptomatic TB. Will share the paper link in thread. www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-202...
Asymptomatic TB: A hidden challenge for TB control
UCT researchers have published new findings that challenge current approaches to TB detection and control in South Africa.
news.uct.ac.za
Peptide injections are the hottest trend in wellness. Researchers say enthusiasm for these unregulated drugs has got ahead of the science go.nature.com/4wUKtV2
Is the peptide craze backed by science? The promise behind the hype
Peptide injections are the hottest trend in wellness. Researchers say enthusiasm for these unregulated drugs has got ahead of the science.
go.nature.com
Mid-winter run on the southern slopes of Table Mountain - what a pleasure
Excellent review on the safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines: a mechanistic and public health perspective - The Lancet www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines: a mechanistic and public health perspective
mRNA vaccines represent a transformative advance in vaccinology, combining rapid development timelines, scalable manufacturing, and strong immunogenicity with a favourable safety profile. Global deplo...
thelancet.com
We are looking for an amazing person to join our team as a Project Manager to support me across a portfolio of child and adolescent TB studies. Use the following link su.ac.za/en/careers-su to apply.
Careers at SU
Careers at SU
su.ac.za
IN THE SPOTLIGHT | Globally, childhood vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives since 1974. In this special briefing, we detail which vaccines are in used in South Africa. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/07/01/i...
In The Spotlight | What is in SA’s vaccination schedule and how does it measure up?
Which vaccines are in use in South Africa and how does our vaccination schedule measure up to international standards? In this #InTheSpotlight special briefing, Catherine Tomlinson unpacks the recent ...
spotlightnsp.co.za
SHINGLES VACCINE | A new, more effective shingles vaccine is finally set to hit the market in South Africa. The vaccine, Shingrix, should soon be available at private sector pharmacies, but availability in the public sector seems unlikely for the time being. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/06/25/n...
New shingles vaccine to be launched in SA private sector, but affordability may limit access
Ten years after its launch in the United States, a new, more effective shingles vaccine is finally set to hit the market in South Africa. While the vaccine, called Shingrix, should soon be available a...
spotlightnsp.co.za
Exciting opportunity for a Medical Officer and a Study Nurse to join our research team at the Desmond Tutu TB Centre to work on the newly funded DEFIANT study to evaluate the impact of puberty on host immune responses to Mtb. www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/44... www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/44...
Stellenbosch University hiring Medical Officer in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa | LinkedIn
Posted 12:42:57 PM. Department Description/Departement BeskrywingFaculty of Medicine and Health SciencesDesmond Tutu TB…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
linkedin.com
Chronic air pollution exposure (even moderate) and more advanced coronary artery disease pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/...
Sex-Specific Associations between Long-term Air Pollution Exposure and Coronary Atherosclerosis at Cardiac CT | Radiology
Long-term exposure to air pollution, even at moderate levels, is independently associated with greater coronary artery calcium extent and total plaque burden at cardiac CT.
pubs.rsna.org
Perhaps the fact that we are conducting an unprecedented experiment with the only home we have, by digging up and burning massive amounts of fossil fuels that is driving global change at rates 10X faster than the most recent warming of this magnitude that occurred oh about 55 million years ago? 🧐
Why temperature records are being not only broken but smashed
The combined effects of a heat dome and climate change have brought extreme warmth to western Europe.
bbc.com
This BBC article states that "climate change is believed to have played a role in such hot spells as this." Let me fix it: Climate change IS making these hot spells more likely and more dangerous. Scientists have been warning of this for decades. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Hottest May day on record in UK as temperatures pass 34C
It comes after the UK recorded its warmest May night on Sunday when temperatures reached 19.4C.
bbc.com
Katharine Hayhoe@katharinehayhoe.com · 2mo agoPerhaps the fact that we are conducting an unprecedented experiment with the only home we have, by digging up and burning massive amounts of fossil fuels that is driving global change at rates 10X faster than the most recent warming of this magnitude that occurred oh about 55 million years ago? 🧐
Tuberculosis kills on a vast scale, but as foreign aid shrinks, countries with a high burden of TB stand to gain a lot by investing more to curb the disease and its heavy social cost @economist.com impact.economist.com/health-socie...
SCIENCE AND STRATEGY STAR | Professor Willem Hanekom tells Spotlight about taking a ventilated young patient to the Sea Point promenade, living with HIV, the need for an African research agenda, and the recurring joy that has defined his career. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/05/07/t...
To the US and back: SA’s Prof Willem Hanekom reflects on the joys of science and a career ‘running with opportunities’
At his Durban office, Professor Willem Hanekom tells Biénne Huisman about taking a ventilated young patient to the Sea Point promenade, living with HIV, the need for an African research agenda, and th...
spotlightnsp.co.za
A Review in Communications Medicine explores Long COVID — which affects more than 400 million people globally — including current knowledge, gaps and future directions for research, diagnosis and treatment. go.nature.com/4unyxtI #medsky 🧪
Bangladesh is in the grip of an explosive measles epidemic, stemming from a catastrophic breakdown in vaccine procurement following the country’s 2024 revolution. The result was nationwide vaccine shortages and plummeting immunization rates. https://scim.ag/4tM2lAr
Measles explodes in Bangladesh after vaccination breakdown, killing hundreds of children
Changes to government’s vaccine purchase system after 2024 revolution led to nationwide shortages, gaps in immunity
scim.ag
So we blocked IFNγ in Mtb infected macaques and….the animals were fine. Turns out mice overestimate the importance of IFNγ in TB because IFNγ drives iNOS in mice but not macaques or humans. This means we don’t actually know how T cells suppress Mtb. rdcu.be/ff9GB #tuberculosis #immunology
IFNγ blockade in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macaques alters the granuloma environment but not bacterial control
Nature Communications - Here, the authors show that IFNγ blockade does not impair resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in macaques, opposed to what has been observed in mice, due...
rdcu.be
Beautifully done and important trial. An effective mTb test that utilizes tongue swab specimens will be absolutely transformative for Tb diagnosis especially is resource limited settings. Definitely practice modifying. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Pulmonary Tuberculosis Detection with MiniDock MTB Using Swab Samples | NEJM
Improved diagnostic tools for tuberculosis that are suitable for use in peripheral health centers are essential for reducing the persistent gap between estimated and notified cases. The diagnostic ...
nejm.org
In this mathematical modelling study, Katherine Horton & co assess #TB community screening approaches & their estimated effects on TB incidence & mortality, concluding that methods that capture both infectious & non-infectious TB are needed to achieve sustained case reductions🧪 plos.io/4tuD2SM
Trade-offs in diagnostic algorithm, population coverage, and duration of community screening for tuberculosis: A modelling study
In a mathematical modelling study, Katherine Horton and colleagues assess different tuberculosis (TB) community screening approaches and their estimated effects on TB incidence and mortality over ten ...
plos.io
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
PLOS Medicine@plosmedicine.org · 4mo agoIn this mathematical modelling study, Katherine Horton & co assess #TB community screening approaches & their estimated effects on TB incidence & mortality, concluding that methods that capture both infectious & non-infectious TB are needed to achieve sustained case reductions🧪 plos.io/4tuD2SM
A fascinating long read for World TB Day #tbsky @stoptb.bsky.social @madhupai.bsky.social @treatmentactiongroup.org @tomscriba.bsky.social
Spotlight@spotlightnsp.bsky.social · 5mo agoTODAY'S BIG READ | In this Spotlight special briefing, @elri-voigt.bsky.social takes stock of what we know about “asymptomatic TB”, and try to come to terms with its far-reaching implications for our ongoing battle against this age-old illness. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/03/23/i...
DATA MUST DRIVE ACTION | South Africa's new TB dashboard is a win for transparency. The data must now help boost TB testing and find the people still missing from care, say leading TB activists. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/03/16/a...
A new TB dashboard can help boost testing, we need to make the most of it
The new government TB dashboard is a step forward for transparency and accountability in South Africa’s response to the ancient, but still deadly, disease. It is critical that we use it wisely to boos...
spotlightnsp.co.za
NEW HOPE | For more than a century, the world has relied on a single TB vaccine. That could finally change with top South African researchers playing a key role. Associate Professor Angelique Kany Kany Luabeya explains why this moment matters. www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2026/03/17/t...
The hunt for a new TB vaccine: Why we are now so close, and why it matters
The only tuberculosis vaccine we have is a century old and offers only limited efficacy in children. With leading South African researchers involved in the pivotal clinical trials of three new tubercu...
spotlightnsp.co.za
"When intending to upload code, some researchers have also accidentally published partial or entire Biobank datasets to GitHub, a popular online code-sharing platform." www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Confidential health records from UK BioBank project exposed online
Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds data from flagship medical research leaked dozens of times
theguardian.com
We have a vacancy for Data Scientist position within our dynamic clinical immunology group. To apply visit the UCT online job portal at: www.uct.ac.za
