Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

Substance abuse treatment services: Routine on-site infectious disease screening necessary

Fewer than half of all substance abuse treatment facilities surveyed nationwide reported that they conduct on-site infectious disease screening, according to a new study sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

26 Mar 2010

Researchers made vital discovery in the development of new drug to cure TB

This World TB Day (March 24), researchers at Sydney's Centenary Institute announce they have made an exciting discovery that could lead to the first new drug for Tuberculosis (TB) in almost fifty years.

26 Mar 2010

Senate briefing to discuss TB and drug-resistant TB

A Senate briefing today will discuss TB and drug-resistant TB, including multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug resistant (XDR-TB), the impact on global health and the current state of surveillance, diagnosis and treatment around the world.

26 Mar 2010

Lay health workers can help reduce childhood mortality

Lay persons in many countries who are given special training to promote or carry out some health care services may reduce childhood mortality.

26 Mar 2010

World TB Day coverage: Lesotho, Armenia, drug resistance, HIV coinfection

"To mark World [Tuberculosis] Day on Wednesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres [MSF] drew attention to Lesotho, which has the world's third-highest prevalence of HIV ... and the fourth-highest prevalence of tuberculosis," the Associated Press reports

26 Mar 2010

Civil society groups urge G8 to follow through with AIDS funding commitments

"Civil society organisations from around the world on Wednesday made a coordinated appeal to the Canadian government to help pressure the Group of Eight (G8) into fulfilling its aid commitments in the fight against AIDS,"

26 Mar 2010

UNAIDS Executive Director calls for 'serious attention to TB' on World TB Day

In a statement marking World Tuberculosis Day, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe "warned Wednesday that double infections of HIV and TB could become the next new epidemic," the Associated Press reports. Sidibe said, "I'm calling for serious attention to TB, and serious attention to TB-HIV co-infection" (Corder, 3/24).

25 Mar 2010

American Lung Association in California supports efforts for quality TB care

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a serious public health threat in the U.S. with nearly 13,000 TB cases reported during 2008.

25 Mar 2010

Study: MetAP inhibitors prevent TB growth in test tubes

Suspecting that a particular protein in tuberculosis was likely to be vital to the bacteria's survival, Johns Hopkins scientists screened 175,000 small chemical compounds and identified a potent class of compounds that selectively slows down this protein's activity and, in a test tube, blocks TB growth, demonstrating that the protein is indeed a vulnerable target.

25 Mar 2010

UK Government grants 8 MN GBP to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation

Global efforts to combat tuberculosis gained momentum today when the government of the United Kingdom announced generous funding to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. The first-ever grant of - 8,000,000 (approximately US$ 13 million) is a significant show of support for Aeras in its mission to develop new TB vaccines.

24 Mar 2010

Community awareness can help fight tuberculosis

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Everette James today stressed the importance of increasing awareness of tuberculosis, or TB, and continuing efforts to control the infectious airborne disease that killed nearly 2 million people in 2008.

24 Mar 2010

FHI, Duke University Medical Center pertner to improve TB treatment

Family Health International, a nonprofit global health and development organization working to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people, recently joined the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium, an international body that researches new TB drugs and treatment strategies. The consortium is funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As part of the consortium, FHI is partnering with Duke University Medical Center to conduct clinical trials that aim to reduce the duration of TB treatment and lessen the side effects of TB drugs.

24 Mar 2010

TB prevalence more common among HIV patients and aged individuals

A study by the Barcelona Public Health Agency has revealed those sections of the population that are most vulnerable to tuberculosis. The research, published in the journal Respiratory Research, shows that the highest death rates from this disease are among those aged over 50 or infected with HIV.

24 Mar 2010

Senate briefing on World TB Day

A Senate briefing, Bringing Established Methods to Scale: New Perspectives in the Changing World of TB, to discuss TB and drug-resistant TB, including multidrug-resistant TB and extensively-drug resistant, the impact on global health and the current state of surveillance, diagnosis and treatment around the world.

24 Mar 2010

Opinion: Repurposing wastewater; expanding global fund; financing global health needs

In an Economic Times opinion piece, Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University outlines what he sees as "two huge challenges facing" the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria:

24 Mar 2010

Administration official discusses Obama's commitment to Africa's food security in Reuters interview

Food security is central to President Barack Obama's Africa policy, "the administration's top official for Africa," Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, said in an interview with Reuters. "We want to see the food security initiative take on greater momentum as more African countries are drawn into this program," Carson said.

23 Mar 2010

Researchers develop new compound to inhibit HIV transmission

A compound that can inhibit the transfer of HIV from one cell to another has been developed by researchers at the Institut de Biologie Structurale Jean-Pierre Ebel.

22 Mar 2010

Tricking TB into suicidal self-poisoning

Scientists have identified a new class of drug target that tricks tuberculosis bacteria into suicidal self-poisoning. New therapies are urgently required to control the tuberculosis pandemic. Even in the UK cases are on the rise.

22 Mar 2010

Novel ways of killing TB causing bacteria discovered

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found two novel ways of killing the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB), a disease responsible for an estimated two million deaths each year. The findings, published in the March 21 online issue of Nature Chemical Biology, could lead to a potent TB therapy that would also prevent resistant TB strains from developing.

22 Mar 2010

Global malaria investments saving lives, more funds needed

A new study linking funding increases in the global fight against malaria to a drop in deaths from the disease also shows that resources from donor governments still fall short of those needed for maximum impact against the world's fourth-biggest killer of children, according to a global health policy analyst at international aid agency World Vision.

20 Mar 2010