Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

HIV/AIDS advocates protest stigma, discrimination ahead of AIDS conference

HIV/AIDS advocates in Mexico City have begun protesting the problems of stigma, discrimination and a lack of access to antiretroviral drugs in Latin America ahead of next week's XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Agence France-Presse reports (Rosenthal, Agence France-Presse, 7/29).

3 Aug 2008

Certain HIV treatment less effective when used with rifampicin-based anti-tuberculosis therapy

Patients receiving rifampicin-based anti-tuberculosis therapy are more likely to experience virological failure when starting nevirapine-based antiretroviral therapy, an HIV treatment that is widely used in developing countries because of lower cost, than when starting efavirenz-based antiretroviral therapy, according to a study in the August 6 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

3 Aug 2008

Some bacteria steal iron from their human hosts - discovery could lead to new ways to fight tuberculosis

Like their human hosts, bacteria need iron to survive and they must obtain that iron from the environment. While humans obtain iron primarily through the food they eat, bacteria have evolved complex and diverse mechanisms to allow them access to iron.

31 Jul 2008

An unsuspected weakness in tuberculosis - potential drug target

With antibiotic resistance on the rise, tuberculosis is emerging as a bigger global health threat than ever before.

31 Jul 2008

Bush says he will sign PEPFAR reauthorization

President Bush on Saturday during his weekly radio address said he is eager to sign legislation (HR 5501) that would reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through 2013, the AP/Google.com reports (Reichmann, AP/Google.com, 7/26).

29 Jul 2008

CDC says screen immigrants for TB before they enter the U.S.

Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. say immigrants coming into the country from Africa and Southeast Asia should be tested and treated for tuberculosis (TB) before they arrive in order to prevent the importation of the disease.

23 Jul 2008

Researchers urge integrating TB into HIV care

In resource-limited settings where tuberculosis is a major cause of mortality among HIV patients and where a multidrug-resistant TB epidemic is emerging, researchers are pressing for approaches to integrate TB prevention and treatment into HIV care and treatment.

22 Jul 2008

Russia considers ending mandatory HIV testing for foreigners entering country

Following U.S. Senate approval of legislation to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that includes a provision to ease HIV/AIDS-related travel restrictions, Russian government officials have said they are considering replicating the U.S. measure, "an indication that Russia may end mandatory HIV tests for foreign residents," the Moscow Times reports.

22 Jul 2008

IMF programs and tuberculosis outcomes in post-communist countries

International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans were associated with a 16.6% rise in death rates from tuberculosis (TB) in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern European countries between 1992 and 2002, finds a study in this week's PLoS Medicine.

22 Jul 2008

International goals to reduce malaria burdens not likely to be achieved

For malaria control goals to be achieved, we must in the future tie funding commitments closer to level of need, says new research by Bob Snow and colleagues from the Kenyan Medical Research Institute-Oxford University-Wellcome Trust Collaborative Programme.

22 Jul 2008

D-cycloserine may improve behavioral therapy treatment for anxiety

Anxiety is a normal human response to stress, but in some, it can develop into a disabling disorder of excessive and irrational fears, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder. Effective treatments are available and can involve either behavioral therapy or medications.

16 Jul 2008

Old bones could hold the key to tuberculosis

Close to 50 boxes of human and animal bones excavated in Jericho and held in the University of Sydney's Nicholson Museum could hold the key for an international medical team to unlock the causes of tuberculosis.

16 Jul 2008

Potential treatment for TB solves puzzle

Scientists have uncovered a new target for the potential treatment of TB, finally resolving a long-running debate about how the bacterial cell wall is built.

13 Jul 2008

Bush calls on congress to reauthorize PEPFAR ahead of G8 summit

President Bush on Wednesday called on Congress to quickly reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ahead of the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit next week in Hokkaido, Japan, Reuters reports.

4 Jul 2008

New target for the potential treatment of tuberculosis

Scientists have uncovered a new target for the potential treatment of tuberculosis (TB), finally resolving a long-running debate about how the bacterial cell wall is built.

3 Jul 2008

WHO, Stop TB Partnership, UNITAID announce new tuberculosis test that quickly diagnoses MDR-TB

The World Health Organization, Stop TB Partnership, UNITAID and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics on Monday announced a joint project to distribute a new diagnostic test for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis that can produce results in two days instead of the standard two or three months, the New York Times reports. Difficulty in identifying MDR-TB has been a "major obstacle" in controlling TB because many patients die or spread the disease while waiting for test results, the Times reports.

3 Jul 2008

U.N. Secretary-General Ban to call on G8 to increase aid for health programs, including HIV/AIDS initiatives

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday said he will call on the Group of Eight industrialized nations at its summit next month in Hokkaido, Japan, to increase aid for specific health programs -- including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria initiatives -- AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/26).

2 Jul 2008

White House, GOP leadership must take 'lead' in convincing senators to drop PEPFAR Reauthorization objections, editorial says

The White House and Republican leadership must "take the lead" in convincing Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and other Republican senators to "change their minds" about holding up the proposed five-year extension of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a Washington Post editorial says.

2 Jul 2008

Draft G8 communique does not cite 2010 deadlines for development aid, universal access to HIV prevention, care

A draft communique scheduled to be issued at the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit in July in Hokkaido, Japan, does not cite 2010 targets for universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment or for $25 billion in annual aid to Africa that were set at the 2005 G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, the Financial Times reports.

2 Jul 2008

Predicting tuberculosis outbreaks based on the first 2 cases

Outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB) may be able to be identified by looking at certain characteristics of the first two patients, according to new research. If the first two patients are diagnosed within three months of each other, live in urban areas, and if one or both are of sub-Saharan African origin, there is a 56 percent chance that the two cases will lead to a large outbreak of TB, whereas if the patients exhibit none of those characteristics, the odds are just one percent.

1 Jul 2008