Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

Largest-ever implementation study on kala-azar in Asia

A comprehensive four-year project including over 10,000 patients in clinical and pharmacovigilance studies for diagnosis and treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL, also known as kala-azar) in India and Bangladesh was launched by an international consortium formed last month to support control and elimination strategies in both countries, where the concentration of disease burden is among the world's highest.

7 Nov 2011

UCB to sponsor several key sets of Cimzia data on RA at ACR 2011 meeting

UCB, a leading biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of immunology treatment and research, is proud to sponsor several key sets of Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) data at the American College of Rheumatology's 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago, November 5-9.

7 Nov 2011

Study shows decline in number of TB cases across America during 2009

The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the U.S. is reported as being on the decrease, however untreated infected people act as a reservoir for disease. Any pool of the world's population harboring this disease gives cause for concern, especially since the BCG vaccine is only 70-80% effective at best. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health, shows that in 2009 the number of cases of TB reported across America was much lower than that recorded in previous years.

7 Nov 2011

New long-term data from Abbott's HUMIRA plus methotrexate Phase 3 studies on RA

Abbott today announced results from long-term open-label extensions of the PREMIER and DE019 Phase 3 studies, which evaluated HUMIRA (adalimumab) plus methotrexate (MTX) for up to eight years in patients with early moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and up to 10 years in patients with long-standing moderate to severe RA, respectively.

7 Nov 2011

Appropriate tests, treatments needed for pediatric TB

In this post on the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, Grania Brigden, the tuberculosis adviser to the Medecins Sans Frontieres Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, writes that while "[t]his year's Global Tuberculosis Control report shows the beginning of a decline in the global tuberculosis epidemic, ... there is a stark lack of data for children," continuing, "Without a clear estimate of the magnitude of the problem it is hard to motivate governments, researchers and donors."

5 Nov 2011

Experts look to India to develop accurate, affordable TB diagnostics

SciDev.Net examines tuberculosis (TB) in India, which has the world's highest TB burden, and some experts' hopes that researchers in the country can develop accurate and affordable diagnostic test kits.

4 Nov 2011

Global Fund releases additional audits as part of internal investigation

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Tuesday posted the results of several internal audits, showing "that 12 more probes had turned up an additional $20 million of mismanagement, alleged fraud and misspending," the Associated Press/CBSNews.com reports.

4 Nov 2011

Global Fund, China agree to cut $95M from grants for health programs in the country

"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced on Monday that it will withhold $95 million from the $270 million in grants it had planned to give China" after "months of discussion between the charity and Chinese officials," China Daily reports.

4 Nov 2011

PlusNews reports on importance of cost-effectiveness of ZAMSTAR study for policymakers, donors amid economic downturn

PlusNews reports on the results of the Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) study released on Monday at the International Lung Health Conference in Lille, France, which show that "home-based tuberculosis (TB) education and testing reduced community TB prevalence by about 20 percent."

4 Nov 2011

Synthetic artemisinin discovery could make malaria treatments more affordable, accessible

"Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the biotech start-up Amyris have developed a process to manufacture artemisinin, a crucial ingredient in first-line malaria drugs that until now had to be extracted from a natural crop called sweet wormwood," PBS NewsHour reports.

3 Nov 2011

Abbott to highlight latest research findings on HUMIRA at ACR annual meeting

Abbott scientists and independent researchers will highlight the latest research findings on HUMIRA (adalimumab) at this year's American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Scientific Meeting, scheduled for November 5-9 in Chicago.

3 Nov 2011

Advocates push for integration of HIV/TB funding, programming in Kenya

This post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports on a presentation at the Union World Conference on Lung Health in France on Saturday by Evelyne Kibuchi, a senior tuberculosis (TB) advocacy officer at the Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO), writing, "HIV stakeholders have been slow to embrace and adopt TB interventions, Kibuchi said, and resources for co-infection activities are modest.

2 Nov 2011

Science Speaks reports results of Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction program study

This post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports the results of a Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) program study, released Monday, which "demonstrate that household counseling -- defined as the unpacking of concerns about TB and HIV within households and facilitating prompt diagnosis and treatment -- significantly reduced tuberculosis (TB) prevalence."

2 Nov 2011

UL, IU and UMMS to implement Center for Excellence in Health and Life Sciences

Indiana University today announced that it is partnering with the University of Liberia and the University of Massachusetts Medical School to administer a transformative $7.2 million project that will address a national shortage of healthcare workers in Liberia, an African nation with which IU has had long-standing ties.

1 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

UCB to present new data on Cimzia at ACG annual scientific meeting

UCB, a leading biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of immunology treatment and research, will present new data on Cimzia at the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Scientific Meeting, taking place in Washington D.C. from October 28 to November 2.

1 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: Judd Gregg on revamping entitlements and taxes; John Breaux on slashing Medicare fraud; Medicaid limits on hospital stays

Consider this. As of this year, every other household in America will have at least one person in it who is receiving an entitlement benefit, according to the Census Bureau. As of this year, fewer than half of the Americans who have earned income will pay income taxes on that income.

1 Nov 2011

ZAMSTAR project reduces prevalence of tuberculosis by 22%

The results of a large-scale community-randomized trial presented at the 42nd World Conference on Lung Health in Lille, France today show that the Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) project reduced the prevalence of tuberculosis by 22%.

31 Oct 2011

Gates Foundation, China sign MOU to work together on global health, agriculture advances

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a partnership to support new research and development (R&D) and production of new products for global health and agriculture, Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Oct 2011

Virtual platform for intellectual property sharing aims to speed development of drug treatments

"The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched a consortium on Wednesday that would allow the public and private sector to share intellectual property to promote the development of new drugs to treat diseases such as malaria," Reuters reports.

28 Oct 2011