Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

Smoking could cause 18M more cases of TB worldwide over next 40 years

Smoking could cause 18 million more cases of tuberculosis worldwide over the next 40 years and 40 million additional deaths.

12 Oct 2011

Vitamin D plays an essential role in the body's fight against TB

Not just important for building strong bones, an international team of scientists has found that vitamin D also plays an essential role in the body's fight against infections such as tuberculosis.

12 Oct 2011

ASHG to honor U of U geneticist with William Allan Award

As a teenager just moved to Iowa from war-ravaged Germany in 1951, John M. Opitz, M.D., wanted to study developmental biology, but his "very Prussian" mother insisted he go to medical school instead.

12 Oct 2011

Huffington Post profiles UNITAID chair

The Huffington Post profiles Philippe Douste-Blazy, U.N. under-secretary-general of Innovative Financing for Development and chair of UNITAID, a financing mechanism he conceived in 2004 to help provide medicines for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries.

7 Oct 2011

Keeping HIV patients on ART will have long-term economic benefits, study shows

Investments to keep 3.5 million people living with HIV on antiretroviral drugs provided by programs co-financed through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through 2020 will cost an estimated $14.2 billion, but "the financial savings would amount to between $12 billion and $34 billion," according to a study published in the journal PLoS One, Sarah Boseley reports in her "Global Health Blog" in the Guardian.

7 Oct 2011

Lipomannan on TB bacterium's outer cell surface can block TNF production

The bacterium that causes tuberculosis has a unique molecule on its outer cell surface that blocks a key part of the body's defense. New research suggests this represents a novel mechanism in the microbe's evolving efforts to remain hidden from the human immune system.

4 Oct 2011

Despite increase in cases, awareness of male breast cancer is low

Awareness of male breast cancer is low and most men do not even know they are at risk despite an increase in cases, reveals new research from the University of Leeds.

3 Oct 2011

Five reasons to support the Global Fund

Based on a report released last week by a high-level independent review panel on fiduciary controls and oversight mechanisms at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, "the changes needed at the Fund are clearly substantial," according to a Lancet editorial.

1 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

Literacy Bridge launches program to improve health of women, at-risk children across rural Ghana

Literacy Bridge is responding to the need for a comprehensive solution in global health and hunger by kicking off its Health & Agriculture Communication for Women & Children Program, which is designed to improve the health of 24,000 women and at-risk children in 75 low-literate communities across rural Ghana.

1 Oct 2011

Time to increase efforts against HIV/AIDS, TB

In a Huffington Post opinion piece, Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, asks whether President Barack Obama will "heed Archbishop [Desmond] Tutu's call to action" in a recent Washington Post opinion piece "and do his part to end AIDS."

1 Oct 2011

Increased communication needed for TB diagnostics development

In this post on the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, Madhukar Pai, a professor and tuberculosis (TB) researcher based at McGill University, co-chair of the Stop TB Partnership's New Diagnostics Working Group, and a consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, describes a recent conference on TB diagnostics at St. John's Research Institute in Bangalore, India, that aimed "to stimulate industry interest and investments in TB innovations."

30 Sep 2011

Global Fund board supports recommendations of Independent Review Panel, will implement 'wide-reaching reforms'

"The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria approved an action plan Monday in response to recommendations made recently by the High-Level Independent Review Panel on Fiduciary Controls and Oversight Mechanism (HLP)," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports, adding, "The board stated that it accepts the underlying analysis made by the panel and that it 'presents a compelling case for a rapid and urgent transformation of the Global Fund.'"

30 Sep 2011

Thanks from Global Fund Executive Director Kazatchkine

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, "[a]long with our partners, both donors and implementers, is changing the story of scores of nations that were once devastated by three killer diseases -- diseases which seemed invincible," Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece, adding "we are now saving more than one million lives every year."

29 Sep 2011

High prevalence of NTDs in Central Asia after 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union

The open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases will publish an article emphasizing the rising burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Central Asia on Tuesday, Sept. 27th.

28 Sep 2011

Immediate action needed to curb spread of TB, especially among children

In this post in the Huffington Posts "Impact" blog, Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, an international partnership of advocates working to mobilize resources to treat and prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB), examines the need for improved TB vaccines and diagnostics in order to curb the spread of multidrug-resistant TB, especially among children, and highlights ACTION's new report.

27 Sep 2011

Afinitor Phase III study on angiomyolipomas associated with TSC meets primary endpoint

A Phase III study of Afinitor (everolimus) tablets in patients with non-cancerous kidney tumors, or angiomyolipomas, associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) met its primary endpoint of best overall angiomyolipoma response rate, which includes reduction in kidney tumor size and absence of new tumors.

26 Sep 2011

Combination of Afinitor, exemestane reduces risk of breast cancer progression in women

A pivotal Phase III study shows Afinitor (everolimus) tablets plus exemestane, a hormonal therapy, more than doubled the time women lived without tumor growth (progression-free survival; PFS) and significantly reduced the risk of cancer progression by 57% versus exemestane alone in patients with advanced breast cancer.

26 Sep 2011

Janssen Biotech receives FDA approval for Remicade to treat UC in children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Remicade (infliximab) to treat moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in children older than 6 years who have had inadequate response to conventional therapy.

26 Sep 2011

Examining alternatives to assessing Global Fund effectiveness

In this post in the Center for Global Development's "Global Health Policy" blog, William Savedoff, a senior fellow at the center, responds to a high level panel's assessment (.pdf) of fiduciary controls at the Global Fund to Fight, AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, examining "what this report might mean for an organization that was expressly created to blaze an innovative approach to international aid and is being counseled to back away from that vision."

23 Sep 2011