Biography

Professor Ehrlich is a specialist in Occupational Medicine and Public Health in the Division of Occupational Medicine, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has been examining former mineworkers for three decades, and has participated in numerous clinical and epidemiological studies of silicosis and TB in this population. His research interests include clinical assessment of mineworkers for silicosis and TB, ways to prevent and treat disease and control progression, and options for fair and effective compensation systems. His most recent work has been on use of computer aided detection (CAD) of silicosis and silicotuberculosis.

Expertise

TB Diagnostics
Public Health

Key Impacts

Effectiveness of TB treatment in individuals exposed to silica or with silicosis: A systematic review

The evidence base on treatment outcomes in silicosis is sparse and suffers from high risk of bias. However, the direction is towards significantly poorer outcomes than for TB alone. Randomised or high-quality follow-up studies are long overdue to strengthen the evidence base for this neglected question.

Source: Conference 2024