New TB drugs for the treatment of children and adolescents with rifampicin-resistant TB in Mumbai, India

SETTING: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic in Mumbai, India. OBJECTIVE: To determine the final treatment outcomes, culture conversion and adverse events (AEs) during treatment among children and adolescents (0-19 years) with rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) who received ambulatory injectable-free treatment, including bedaquiline (BDQ) and/or delamanid (DLM) during September 2014-January 2020. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study based on review of routinely collected programme data. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients were included; the median age was 15.5 years (min-max 3-19) and 15 (63%) were females. None were HIV-coinfected. All had fluoroquinolone resistance. Twelve received treatment, including BDQ and DLM, 11 received DLM and one BDQ. The median exposure to BDQ ( n = 13) and DLM ( n = 23) was 82 (IQR 80-93) and 82 (IQR 77-96) weeks, respectively. Seventeen (94%) patients with positive culture at baseline ( n = 18) had negative culture during treatment; median time for culture-conversion was 7 weeks (IQR 5-11). Twenty-three (96%) had successful treatment outcomes: cured ( n = 16) or completed treatment ( n = 7); one died. Eleven (46%) had 17 episodes of AEs. Two of 12 serious AEs were associated with new drugs (QTcF >500 ms). CONCLUSION: Based on one of the largest global cohorts of children and adolescents to receive new TB drugs, this study has shown that injectable-free regimens containing BDQ and/or DLM on ambulatory basis were effective and well-tolerated among children and adolescents and should be made routinely accessible to these vulnerable groups.