Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection caused by a germ called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or talks. If you think you have been exposed, you should go to your doctor for tests as soon as possible. You are more likely to get TB if you have a weak immune system.

What is Tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis (TB) is a dreaded bacterial infection. It has been known to mankind since ancient ages. It was commonly called “consumption” at the turn of the last century because of the way the disease seemed to “consume” the individual it affected.

Tuberculosis Causes

Tuberculosis Diagnosis

Tuberculosis Prevention

Tuberculosis Screening

Tuberculosis Treatment

Tuberculosis Prognosis

History of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis in Animals

Tuberculosis Transmission

New tuberculosis technologies: importance of access in the private health sector

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

MUSC physician wins $9.9 million contract to run trials for the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium

Susan Dorman, M.D., an infectious disease physician at the Medical University of South Carolina, was recently awarded a 10-year, $9.9 million contract by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to run trials for the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium.

23 Feb 2021

Genetic mechanism enables TB-causing bacterium to remember and rapidly respond to stress

Tuberculosis bacteria have evolved to remember stressful encounters and react quickly to future stress, according to a study by computational bioengineers at Rice University and infectious disease experts at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS).

22 Feb 2021

Human monoclonal antibodies can act as a substitute for traditional antibiotics

In the course of a new and groundbreaking study, led by Dr, Natalia Freund and the doctoral candidate Avia Waston at the Sackler Medical Faculty, the research group succeeded in isolating monoclonal antibodies, which hindered the growth of tuberculosis germs in laboratory mice. The

22 Feb 2021

Antimicrobial resistance to critical drugs spirals in low- and middle-income countries

As antibiotic use grows in lower-income countries so does antibiotic resistance, says report.

20 Feb 2021

New biomarker predicts individual anti-tuberculosis treatment duration

When can tuberculosis therapy be stopped without risk of relapse? Doctors are faced with this question time and again, because the lack of detection of the tuberculosis pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis is no guarantee for a permanent cure of the lung infection.

20 Feb 2021

Are antibody cocktails the key to COVID-19 treatment?

News-Medical speaks to Dr. Natalia Freund about her latest research into COVID-19, and how most people are capable of producing neutralizing antibodies against the virus.

18 Feb 2021

Tuberculosis vaccine could protect newborns against common infections

The tuberculosis (TB) vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) could protect newborns against a variety of common infections, such as upper respiratory tract infections, chest infections and diarrhoea, according to a new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

18 Feb 2021

Duration of delirium in critically ill patients predicts mortality and disability

Delirium, a form of acute brain dysfunction, is widespread in critically ill patients in lower resourced hospitals, and the duration of delirium predicted both mortality and disability at six months after discharge, according to a study published in PLOS ONE.

11 Feb 2021

Obesity, age and COVID-19 infection can make someone a super-spreader of SARS-CoV-2

Scientists and public health experts have long known that certain individuals, termed "super-spreaders," can transmit COVID-19 with incredible efficiency and devastating consequences.

10 Feb 2021

New drug cocktail offers hope to patients with highly drug-resistant tuberculosis

A new three-drug, all-oral, six-month treatment is providing hope to patients in Tajikistan with highly drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, which until now had limited treatment options and poor prognosis.

3 Feb 2021

Phase 1 clinical trial of novel HIV vaccine approach shows promising results

A phase 1 clinical trial testing a novel vaccine approach to prevent HIV has produced promising results, IAVI and Scripps Research announced today.

3 Feb 2021

WHO revises definition of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis

The definition of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has been revised by the World Health Organization's Global TB Programme, who have also defined pre-XDR-TB for the first time, highlighting the seriousness of these forms of TB.

1 Feb 2021

New study confirms the effectiveness of LDCT screening in a never-smoker high-risk population

A study presented today by researchers with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan confirmed the effectiveness of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening in a pre-defined, never-smoker, high-risk population.

31 Jan 2021

Can the US keep covid variants in check? Here’s what it takes

The covid-19 variants that have emerged in the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa and now Southern California are eliciting two notably distinct responses from U.S. public health officials.

28 Jan 2021

R&D lacking on emerging infectious diseases, report finds

As research into COVID-19 swells, R&D on other infectious diseases is seriously lacking, report finds.

27 Jan 2021

New partnership to develop test for predicting disease course in pediatric Crohn's patients

The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, the leading non-profit organization focused on both research and patient support for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), has entered into a partnership with LifeArc, an independent medical research charity that advances translation of early science into health care treatments or diagnostics, to potentially develop the first clinical lab test to predict disease course in pediatric patients with Crohn's disease and response to treatment.

25 Jan 2021