Drug Resistant Tuberculosis News and Research

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Asian countries should strengthen health systems to address increasing drug-resistant tuberculosis

World Health Organization officials on Monday ahead of World TB Day on March 24 said that Asian countries should increase efforts to strengthen health systems to address an increase in cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis, AFP/Google.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Drug-resistant tuberculosis increasing among U.S. immigrant populations

Although tuberculosis rates have declined in the U.S., drug-resistant strains of the disease are becoming increasingly prevalent in states with large immigrant populations, the AP/Google.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Lab tests show meropenem and clavulanate combination effective against drug-resistant TB bacteria

WHAT: In a finding that could soon help people infected with untreatable, highly drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), scientists have shown that two FDA-approved drugs work in tandem to kill laboratory-grown strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes TB.

26 Feb 2009

Drug combo shows potential for treating extensively drug resistant tuberculosis

A combination of two FDA-approved drugs, already approved for fighting other bacterial infections, shows potential for treating extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), the most deadly form of the infection.

26 Feb 2009

Drug-resistant tuberculosis rife in China

Levels of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in China are nearly twice the global average. Nationwide research published in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases has shown that almost 10% of Chinese TB cases are resistant to the most effective first-line drugs.

10 Dec 2008

XDR-TB declining in the U.S.

A new report suggests that the number of cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in the U.S. has declined in the past fifteen years, but new cases continue to be reported, according to the study published in the November 12 issue of JAMA.

11 Nov 2008

Tuberculosis researchers discuss challenges, next steps for addressing XDR-TB, MDR-TB in Africa at TB symposium

As many as 30% of people with drug-resistant tuberculosis can be successfully treated with first-line drugs, Paul van Helden of the University of Stellenbosch's Center of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research said recently while presenting research on drug-resistant TB at a TB symposium in Maputo, Mozambique, Africa Science News Service reports.

22 Sep 2008

Uganda plans survey to determine prevalence of MDR-TB, health official says

Uganda this year plans to conduct a survey to determine the prevalence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in the country, National Leprosy and TB program manager Francis Adatu said Wednesday, the Monitor reports.

15 Sep 2008

Aggressive treatment regimens can successfully treat XDR-TB, MDR-TB

Aggressive treatment regimens successfully can treat nearly half of patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis and can help prevent multi-drug resistant TB from developing into XDR-TB, according to a study conducted in prisons in Tomsk, Russia, and published Monday in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports. XDR-TB is resistant to the two most potent first-line treatments and at least two of the classes of second-line drugs.

26 Aug 2008

Stanford develop method to overcome multiple drug resistant diseases

Many drugs once considered Charles Atlases of the pharmaceutical realm have been reduced to the therapeutic equivalent of 97-pound weaklings as the diseases they once dispatched with ease have developed resistance to them.

18 Aug 2008

18 cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis found in California

In the first statewide study of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) in the United States, California officials have identified 18 cases of the dangerous and difficult-to-treat disease between 1993 and 2006, and 77 cases that were one step away from XDR TB. The study appears in the August 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

13 Aug 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

New test quickly detects multi drug-resistant tuberculosis

Researchers have developed a new test which can quickly detect multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

1 Jul 2008

New Imperial College centre to tackle respiratory infections

Think that colds and flu are easy to catch, hard to avoid and impossible to treat? That nobody ever dies of a cold? That's all wrong, say the medics and scientists at a new research centre which launches today (Monday 2 June).

1 Jun 2008

Increasing transmission of drug resistant tuberculosis in the UK

A changing population structure and ongoing migration have increased cases of drug resistant tuberculosis, according to a study published on bmj.com today.

1 May 2008

NIAID tackles drug-resistant tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) has long been one of the world’s great killers. Now, forms of drug-resistant TB--multidrug (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)--are occurring at an ominous and accelerating rate. To help in the fight against drug-resistant TB, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has formulated an MDR and XDR TB research agenda.

22 Apr 2008

WHO warns the fight against TB has slowed down

A new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on tuberculosis (TB) has revealed that the pace of the progress to control the TB epidemic has slowed down.

18 Mar 2008

Tackling antimicrobial resistance

Drug resistance is making many diseases increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible to treat, according to Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Mar 2008

Anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in the world

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been recorded at the highest rates ever, according to a new report published today.

27 Feb 2008

Internet and IT increase physician disease reporting

With emerging diseases like the West Nile Virus, and re-emerging diseases such as the pandemic flu and drug-resistant tuberculosis, it's increasingly important to promptly detect a potential infectious outbreak within a community.

15 Jan 2008