Drug Resistant Tuberculosis News and Research

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Reuters examines global rise in drug-resistant tuberculosis cases

"[O]ften seen in the wealthy West as a disease of bygone eras," Reuters examines rising rates of tuberculosis (TB) -- drug-resistant TB in particular -- among the world's rich and poor. "[R]apidly rising rates of drug-resistant TB in some of the wealthiest cities in the world, as well as across Africa and Asia, are again making history," Reuters writes.

21 Mar 2012

TB Alliance launches new combination drug trial

In an ambitious effort to stem the dangerous tide of tuberculosis (TB) and deadly drug-resistant TB around the world, TB Alliance today announced that it has launched a first-of-its-kind clinical trial to test a novel drug combination – in both patients who have TB and those who have multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).

19 Mar 2012

Kenya's ability to diagnose, treat MDR-TB questioned after mismanagement of patient's case

"The Kenyan government's recent failure to adequately treat a patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has some civil society organizations questioning whether the country's TB program is equipped to diagnose and treat such patients," PlusNews reports.

2 Mar 2012

Burma unable to expand HIV, TB treatment programs without more donor support, MSF report says

Approximately 85,000 HIV-positive people in Burma, also known as Myanmar, are in need of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and cannot access it "due to a lack of funding, despite renewed international engagement with the government amid a wave of political reform, according to a report released Wednesday" by the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Associated Press/CBS News reports.

23 Feb 2012

USAID provides testing equipment to Vietnam to help speed diagnoses of drug-resistant TB

USAID on Monday said it has "delivered the first two of 17 planned laboratory devices" to help quickly diagnose drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB), VOA's "Breaking News" blog reports.

8 Feb 2012

WHO finds very high levels of drug-resistant TB in Russia, Moldova

"[T]he highest levels ever of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have been found in Russia and Moldova," the WHO reports in research published in the February edition of the WHO Bulletin, but "the agency didn't have data from most of Africa and India, where tuberculosis rates are much higher," the Associated Press/USA Today's "Your Life" reports.

4 Feb 2012

Responding to emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis

This post in the Center for Strategic and International Studies' "Smart Global Health" blog examines drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), stating, "[S]ince the recent outbreak of the so-called totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB) in India, TB has a new face."

27 Jan 2012

Address drug resistant pathogens as part of 'next stage of global health'

This post in the Foreign Policy Association blog discusses reports from earlier this month of "an emerging strain of 'totally drug-resistant' tuberculosis (TDR-TB)" in India, which the Indian government last week denied, "arguing that the 12 cases were in fact extensively drug resistant (XDR)."

24 Jan 2012

Exploring how Peru is addressing drug-resistant TB

Discussing the recent reports of so-called "totally drug-resistant" tuberculosis (TDR-TB) in India, journalist John Donnelly in this GlobalPost "Global Voices" blog entry writes, "Overall, the world is treating drug-resistant TB extraordinarily poorly, and that creates more and more cases of resistant TB that aren't being cured."

21 Jan 2012

Blog interviews UCLA professor about highly drug-resistant TB

The Los Angeles Times' "Booster Shots" blog features an interview with Otto Yang, a professor at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who speaks about drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) and the implications of a highly drug-resistant strain found in India.

20 Jan 2012

Indian, WHO officials to meet to discuss managing cases of highly drug-resistant TB

Health officials from India and the WHO are scheduled to meet in Mumbai on Tuesday to discuss how to manage the cases of at least 12 patients infected with a highly drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) strain, Bloomberg reports (Narayan, 1/17).

18 Jan 2012

Totally drug resistant Tuberculosis hits India

Reports reveal that nearly a dozen people in India are infected with a type of tuberculosis that is resistant to all antibiotics used to treat the disease and is thus named “totally drug resistant” or TDR tuberculosis.

17 Jan 2012

UTA chemist to develop simple, paper-based test for drug-resistant TB

Developing a simple, paper-based test for drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is the goal of a University of Texas at Austin chemist, whose project just received a $1.6 million point-of-care diagnostics grant through Grand Challenges in Global Health, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

23 Dec 2011

'Global Pulse' blog examines declining TB incidence in Estonia

In this post in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, journalist John Donnelly reports on tuberculosis (TB) in Estonia and how the country has significantly reduced the proportion of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases since 1998. He writes, "The numbers of new TB cases in Estonia were five times that of the Nordic countries in 1998, but the numbers have tumbled since then and last year Estonia had cut that in half, to 2.5 times the number."

22 Dec 2011

VOA News examines Foundation's efforts to treat MDR-TB patients in North Korea

VOA News examines the Eugene Bell Foundation's work in North Korea to detect and treat patients with multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The foundation is treating about 600 patients in North Korea, where "conditions ... are ideal for the spread of TB. The climate is cold. Most citizens live and work in small spaces, and lack proper nutrition to maintain a strong immune system," VOA writes.

15 Nov 2011

Researchers in Philippines develop machine to quickly detect drug-resistant TB

In this post in the Global Post's "Global Pulse" blog, journalist John Donnelly reports on how a machine developed by researchers at the TB Laboratory at the Lung Center of the Philippines "that can detect multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in record time may revolutionize TB treatment."

15 Nov 2011

PlusNews interviews Stop TB Director Mario Raviglione

At the recent International Lung Health Conference in Lille, France, IRIN/PlusNews spoke with Stop TB Director Mario Raviglione about the threat of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), its treatment and "the precarious TB funding gap," the news service writes.

1 Nov 2011

TB rates decline for the first time: WHO report

According to Mario Raviglione, director of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Stop TB program, for the first time, the number of people infected with tuberculosis (TB) each year is declining. He was speaking at a press conference to release Global Tuberculosis Control 2011, WHO's 16th annual report on TB, which summarizes advances made and challenges ahead. The report features data on TB in nearly 200 countries with treatment results and financing trends.

12 Oct 2011

Multi-drug resistance in first-time TB patients shows 'substantial' transmission of MDR-TB, study says

Nearly half of patients diagnosed with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) at a Chinese hospital had not had the disease before, showing "'substantial' transmission of the deadly superbug," according to a study conducted by researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bloomberg reports.

1 Oct 2011

Congressional cuts to global health R&D spending would hinder preparations for new pandemic threats

The movie "'Contagion' is fiction, but truth closely trails behind. It tells an effective story of why we need new vaccines, tests, drugs, and other tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases to address existing and emerging global health threats," Kaitlin Christenson, coalition director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in an opinion piece in The Hill's "Congress Blog."

17 Sep 2011