Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

'Game changer' tuberculosis drug cures 9 in 10

A new treatment for a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis can cure more than 90 percent of sufferers, according to a trial hailed Monday as a "game changer" in the fight against the global killer.

Diabetes

Millions with high blood sugar face TB risk

Millions of people with high blood sugar may be at greater risk of tuberculosis than previously thought, scientists said Friday, warning that diabetes and TB could combine to create the "perfect storm" of disease.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Tuberculosis researchers find answer to 30-year-old puzzle

(Medical Xpress) -- After three decades of searching, the random screening of a group of compounds against the bacterium that causes tuberculosis has led scientists to a eureka discovery that breaks through the fortress that ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Tuberculosis can be eradicated by 2045: experts

The world can eradicate tuberculosis by 2045 if the fight against the killer disease is properly funded, an international team of experts said Wednesday.

Medications

New antibiotics could tackle drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria

Infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis kills 1.5 million people worldwide every year. Antibiotics to treat TB exist, but in recent years, multi-drug resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and totally drug-resistant ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

TB vaccine candidate shows early promise in mice

A potential vaccine against tuberculosis has been found to completely eliminate tuberculosis bacteria from infected tissues in some mice. The vaccine was created with a strain of bacteria that, due to the absence of a few ...

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Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB (short for tubercle bacillus) is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active MTB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit their saliva through the air. Most infections in humans result in an asymptomatic, latent infection, and about one in ten latent infections eventually progress to active disease, which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of those infected.

The classic symptoms are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (the last giving rise to the formerly prevalent colloquial term "consumption"). Infection of other organs causes a wide range of symptoms. Diagnosis relies on radiology (commonly chest X-rays), a tuberculin skin test, blood tests, as well as microscopic examination and microbiological culture of bodily fluids. Treatment is difficult and requires long courses of multiple antibiotics. Social contacts are also screened and treated if necessary. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in (extensively) multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. Prevention relies on screening programs and vaccination, usually with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine.

One third of the world's population is thought to have been infected with M. tuberculosis, and new infections occur at a rate of about one per second. In 2007 there were an estimated 13.7 million chronic active cases, and in 2010 8.8 million new cases, and 1.45 million deaths, mostly in developing countries. The absolute number of tuberculosis cases has been decreasing since 2006 and new cases since 2002. In addition, more people in the developing world contract tuberculosis because their immune systems are more likely to be compromised due to higher rates of AIDS. The distribution of tuberculosis is not uniform across the globe; about 80% of the population in many Asian and African countries test positive in tuberculin tests, while only 5–10% of the U.S. population test positive.

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