Leprosy News and Research

Latest Leprosy News and Research

Discovery of new species of bacterium that causes leprosy

A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections, a research team reports in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

24 Nov 2008

Leprosy forgotten but not gone

According to scientists in the U.S. leprosy is a disease which may be forgotten, but it is still around.

9 Nov 2008

Leprosy still present in the U.S.

Long believed to be a disease of biblical times, leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, continues to be seen in the United States.

8 Nov 2008

Free treatment program against Buruli ulcer in Cameroon not working

Researchers have found that the fight against Buruli ulcer, a tropical skin disease, has hit a bump in Central Cameroon. Even as organizations provide free-of charge hospitalization care, patients' economic and social costs are preventing and delaying the treatment. Their study results are published October 15 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

14 Oct 2008

Lack of advocacy, communication, mobilization programs hindering Uganda's efforts to fight TB, health official says

A lack of advocacy, communication and social mobilization programs are hindering Uganda's efforts to fight tuberculosis, National Leprosy and TB program manager Francis Adatu said recently, Uganda's Monitor reports.

5 Oct 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

Kenya implements international standards for tuberculosis care

Kenya on Monday implemented the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care, Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo said at the biennial five-day planning meeting of the health ministry's Division of Leprosy, TB and Lung Diseases in Mombasa, Kenya, the Daily Nation reports.

2 Sep 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

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

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

Blood pressure enzyme can have tumor-sensing role

By increasing production of a blood pressure-regulating enzyme in mice, researchers have found they can enhance the mouse immune system's ability to sense tumor growth.

8 Apr 2008

Scientists isolate, characterize the organism that causes Buruli ulcer

An international team of 17 researchers from four countries has for the first time isolated from the environment and fully characterized the organism that causes Buruli ulcer.

28 Mar 2008

New drug targets may fight tuberculosis and other bacterial infections in novel way

Over the course of the 20th Century, doctors waged war against infectious bacterial illness with the best new weapon they had: antibiotics.

28 Dec 2007

Paradigm shift in TB: virulence factors, not antibiotics

Over the course of the 20th Century, doctors waged war against infectious bacterial illness with the best new weapon they had: antibiotics.

27 Dec 2007

Hospitalizations for children with HIV drop by nearly two thirds

The number of infants under age 2 with HIV who were hospitalized fell by 64 percent between 1998 and 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

18 Dec 2007

Link between obesity and bad breath

Now there's another good reason to go on that diet after the holidays.

14 Dec 2007

French clay fights flesh-eating bug

French clay that kills several kinds of disease-causing bacteria is at the forefront of new research into age-old, nearly forgotten, but surprisingly potent cures.

25 Oct 2007

Thalidomide therapy helps elderly myeloma patients live longer

The drug thalidomide is making a comeback as a cancer fighting therapy and has been successfully used along with standard therapy to treat the blood cancer myeloma.

7 Oct 2007

Indian bug is the ancestor of Crohn's disease pathogen

An Indian team of researchers led by Seyed E. Hasnain of the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), University of Hyderabad, India has found that a seemingly unknown mycobacterial organism Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) could be the earliest ancestor of the 'generalist' branch of mycobacterial pathogens.

3 Oct 2007

WHO-based tropical disease research programme to focus on emerging diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) based Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) has adopted a new strategy for strengthening and expanding research to prevent and control 'infectious diseases of poverty.'

22 Jun 2007