Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

About 25% of tuberculosis deaths occur among HIV-positive people

About one-quarter of tuberculosis-related deaths involve an HIV-positive person, twice as high as previous estimates, according to the Global Tuberculosis Control Report 2009, which the World Health Organization released Tuesday to coincide with World TB Day, the Wall Street Journal reports.

25 Mar 2009

Staggering new data shows TB-HIV co-infection a bigger threat

The World Health Organization released staggering new data about the threat of tuberculosis and the toll it takes on people with HIV/AIDS today, in recognition of World TB Day.

24 Mar 2009

Canadian researchers to launch clinical trial to determine efficacy of treating latent TB with four-month course of Rifampin

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal on Tuesday announced they will soon launch an international clinical trial to determine if latent tuberculosis can be treated successfully with a four-month treatment course of the TB drug rifampin rather than the standard nine-month treatment with the TB drug isoniazid, the CP/Toronto Sun reports.

24 Mar 2009

Phase II clinical trial of tuberculosis vaccine candidate to begin next month in South Africa

The Areas Global TB Vaccine Foundation next month will begin a Phase II clinical trial of a new tuberculosis vaccine candidate that aims to improve on the existing BCG vaccine, Bloomberg reports.

24 Mar 2009

Lancet opinion piece examines progress made against HIV/AIDS

"Nearly 30 years into the AIDS epidemic, we are able to access our progress in tackling the disease with both increased knowledge and the benefit of hindsight," former UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot of Imperial College London, who also serves as an adviser on global health strategy to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Mark Dybul of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University and former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator; and Julian Lob-Levyt of the GAVI Alliance write in a Lancet opinion piece.

24 Mar 2009

HIV-related tuberculosis deaths higher than past estimates

The total number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases remained stable in 2007, and the percentage of the world's population becoming ill with TB has continued the slow decline that was first observed in 2004, according to a new report released by WHO today.

24 Mar 2009

Coenzyme rare to bacteria critical to Mycobacterium tuberculosis survival

Coenzyme F420, a small molecule that helps certain enzymes transfer electrons, is found in microorganisms known as methane-producing archaea, some of which thrive in extreme environments.

23 Mar 2009

Ghanaian officials urge media to contribute to tuberculosis awareness

The media should contribute to addressing tuberculosis in Ghana by disseminating information about TB transmission and encouraging the public to attend screenings, Frank Bonsu, program manager for the country's National Tuberculosis Control Program, said recently, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation reports. Bonsu spoke during a one-day TB advocacy workshop for media at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

23 Mar 2009

New tuberculosis vaccine effective in animal testing

A new tuberculosis vaccine candidate developed by researchers at Canada's McMaster University has proven effective in animal testing, the researchers announced Thursday, the Hamilton Spectator reports.

23 Mar 2009

U.S. tuberculosis rate in 2008 at record low

Tuberculosis rates in the U.S. reached a record low in 2008, but the disease still disproportionately affects minority and immigrant populations, according to a CDC report released Thursday in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Reuters reports.

23 Mar 2009

Asian countries should strengthen health systems to address increasing drug-resistant tuberculosis

World Health Organization officials on Monday ahead of World TB Day on March 24 said that Asian countries should increase efforts to strengthen health systems to address an increase in cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis, AFP/Google.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Drug-resistant tuberculosis increasing among U.S. immigrant populations

Although tuberculosis rates have declined in the U.S., drug-resistant strains of the disease are becoming increasingly prevalent in states with large immigrant populations, the AP/Google.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Advocates, Vatican respond to Pope statement that condom distribution will not curb HIV/AIDS in Africa

Pope Benedict XVI's statement on Tuesday that condom distribution will not curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa has "sparked an international outcry" among HIV/AIDS advocates and prompted a response from the Vatican, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 3/18).

23 Mar 2009

U.S., South African scientists launch $60 million HIV/TB research initiative

Scientists from the U.S. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and South Africa's University of KwaZulu Natal on Wednesday announced the launch of a $60 million, 10-year initiative to establish a new research facility to examine the associations between HIV and tuberculosis, the Boston Globe reports.

23 Mar 2009

Christian Science Monitor examines effect of economy on U.S. foreign aid targets

The Christian Science Monitor on Monday examined how the Obama administration is "hinting that the economic downturn means the president is unlikely to reach his goal of doubling foreign aid by the end of his four-year term.

23 Mar 2009

New TB vaccine developed using a genetically modified adenovirus

McMaster University researchers are about to launch Canada's first tuberculosis (TB) vaccine clinical trial with a vaccine totally designed, manufactured and tested within McMaster.

20 Mar 2009

New tuberculosis test dramatically cuts diagnosis time

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The University of Pittsburgh have developed an onsite method to quickly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and expose the deadly drug-resistant strains that can mingle undetected with treatable TB strains.

20 Mar 2009

Researchers create onsite method to quickly diagnose tuberculosis

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have developed an onsite method to quickly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and expose the deadly drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that can mingle undetected with treatable strains.

20 Mar 2009

Ultraviolet light cuts spread of tuberculosis

Ultraviolet lights could reduce the spread of tuberculosis in hospital wards and waiting rooms by 70%, according to a new study, published in PLoS Medicine today.

16 Mar 2009

HIV/AIDS in Haiti - progress made, challenges remain

There is "some good news" in the fight against HIV in the Americas, Cesar Chelala -- an international public health consultant -- writes in a Miami Herald opinion piece, adding that "most surprisingly, it's coming from Haiti, one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic." Chelala writes that United Nations data show that about 2.2% of Haiti's population -- or 120,000 people -- are living with HIV/AIDS and that AIDS-related deaths in the country have decreased in recent years.

16 Mar 2009