Drug Resistant Tuberculosis News and Research

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Plans to tackle drug resistant tuberculosis

A plan has been drawn up to tackle the increasing numbers of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases in 53 European countries. Calling the situation alarming, the World Health Organization reports that Eastern Europe has the highest level of infection, while in Western Europe, London has the highest TB rate of any capital city. Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan are among the countries with the highest burden of illness. There are an estimated there 81,000 cases of drug-resistant TB a year in Europe. And this is an underestimation say experts.

15 Sep 2011

WHO warns drug-resistant TB spreading in Europe at 'alarming' rate, releases plan to fight disease

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) "are spreading at an alarming rate in Europe and will kill thousands unless health authorities halt the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday" during the launch of "a new regional plan to find, diagnose and treat cases of the airborne infectious disease more effectively," Reuters reports.

15 Sep 2011

Eli Lilly announces $30M commitment to fight NCDs in developing nations

Eli Lilly and Company announced today a $30 million commitment over five years to fight the rising burden of non-communicable diseases in developing nations.

14 Sep 2011

JHUSON nursing research news

In a six-month, randomized controlled study of asthmatic children living with smokers reported in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, August 2011, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) professor and School of Medicine faculty member Arlene Butz, MSN, CPNP, ScD, and others found that regular use of indoor air cleaners can greatly reduce household air pollution and lower rates of children's daytime asthma symptoms.

12 Sep 2011

MSF warns global shortage of drug-resistant TB treatment likely

As countries increase the use of the GeneXpert test, a two-hour molecular TB test released in 2010, "enabl[ing] them to diagnose more patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), a worldwide shortage of the drugs to treat these patients is likely, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warns," according to PlusNews.

18 Aug 2011

European Respiratory Journal publishes updated WHO guidelines on drug-resistant TB

The European Respiratory Journal is today publishing the updated guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) that aim to help manage drug-resistant tuberculosis.

4 Aug 2011

UBC research projects receive CIHR grants to promote greater equity in global health

Three research projects at the University of British Columbia have won five-year grants totaling nearly $6 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to promote greater equity in global health.

27 Jul 2011

Global MDR-TB response has been slow, report says

A report released recently and compiled by the Treatment Action Group, Medecins Sans Frontieres and Partners In Health says that international efforts aimed at scaling up treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have been slow due to weak government action, low funding and a "sluggish response by international support mechanisms," BMJ News reports.

16 Jul 2011

Nurses can help manage S. African's syndemic of TB and HIV

Jason E. Farley, PhD, MPH, CRNP knows the dangers inherent to an increasingly common and hazardous syndemic in South Africa: HIV and drug-resistant tuberculosis.

11 Jul 2011

IPS examines access to treatment for drug-resistant TB

"Access to treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis remains compromised, especially in developing countries, because too few pharmaceutical companies manufacture quality-assured drugs," Inter Press Service reports in an article examining how a lack of competition and a working mechanism to keep prices low "has led to skyrocketing prices."

21 Jun 2011

Bill Gates urges wiser vaccine coverage worldwide to save millions

Tuesday this week, Bill Gates called for strengthened immunization programs against infectious diseases to save 4 million lives by 2015 and 10 million lives by 2020, calling it the best possible investment in global health. He was addressing the annual assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, attended by health ministers from the U.N. agency's 193 member states.

17 May 2011

Novel two-drug combination cures young patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis

Belgian physicians report they have cured a young patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) using a novel two-drug combination developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The report, published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, marks the first known clinical use of this treatment for XDR-TB, the most deadly form of the disease.

11 May 2011

Diagnostic test Xpert MTB/RIF proven fast and effective in low-resource settings

The Lancet published a significant development for TB diagnostics yesterday with concrete and encouraging study outcomes on the effectiveness of the new Xpert MTB/RIF test for TB and rifampicin resistance in realistic health care field conditions. One of the authors, Prof. Mark Nicol of the University of Cape Town (South Africa) who contributed to this study, is an EDCTP Senior Fellow. The article demonstrates that the test can effectively be used in low-resource settings to simplify early and accurate diagnosis of patients. The potential impact is a reduction in the morbidity associated with diagnostic delay, dropout and mistreatment. The article has appeared online on 19 April 2011 and will be published in volume 377 on 30 April 2011.

20 Apr 2011

New substance to tackle drug resistant tuberculosis

This year's World Health Day focuses on the growing threat of potentially deadly infections developing resistance to antimicrobial drugs - especially to antibiotics. On this occasion, the European Commission is presenting the promising results of two EU-funded international research projects which provide new hopes to help and treat people.

8 Apr 2011

South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland form alliance to fight MDR-TB

Health ministers from Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa said they have formed an alliance to fight drug-resistant tuberculosis, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports.

1 Apr 2011

WHO report urges countries to step up fight against drug-resistant TB

A WHO report released Wednesday says countries with the highest drug-resistant tuberculosis burdens are making progress in addressing the disease, "but despite the recent scale up in efforts, the world needs to do much more to get care to all [multi-drug resistant] patients who need it," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, Times LIVE reports.

24 Mar 2011

Drug resistance tuberculosis concerns

According to a report released Wednesday, the World Health Organization revealed that drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) accounts for about 440,000 cases and 150,000 deaths worldwide each year. The WHO called for better diagnosis and more funding for treatment of the drug-resistant disease that's harder to cure.

23 Mar 2011

Reports highlight global state of TB epidemic, concerns over drug-resistant TB

Increasing rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis "are hampering world health programs aimed at tackling TB and threaten to wipe out progress made against the disease, scientists said on Friday," Reuters reports (Kelland, 3/18).

19 Mar 2011

Experts to discuss work directions for fight against TB at ITM conference in Antwerp

On occasion of the World TB Day, leading experts from 12 countries will take stock of the fight against tuberculosis, during a conference at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.

17 Mar 2011

Study: 1 in 5 homeless people with tuberculosis die within a year of diagnosis

One in five homeless people with tuberculosis die within a year of their diagnosis, according to a study led by St. Michael's Hospital's Dr. Kamran Khan. And that number remains unchanged over the last decade despite recommendations calling for greater improvements in prevention and control of tuberculosis in homeless shelters.

17 Feb 2011