Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection spread by inhaling tiny droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person. Typical symptoms include a persistent cough - sometimes with phlegm that is bloody, weight loss, night sweats, high temperature (fever), tiredness and fatigue, loss of appetite and swellings. An antibiotic called isoniazid (INH) is often prescribed to help prevent the dormant infection from becoming active. If you have active TB disease, your doctor will give you several antibiotics to treat the infection.
In a striking, unexpected discovery, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory culture. The finding suggests that vitamin C added to existing TB drugs could shorten TB therapy, and it highlights a new area for drug design.
Take a trip to the mummy museum in Vác, Hungary, to see the human remains that helped researchers learn more about the origins of tuberculosis in Europe.
NEW DELHI: A team of scientists at CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, has discovered a key biological pathway that allows Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) - pathogen causing tuberculosis (TB) - to survive in oxygen deprived condition.
This finding was recently published in Molecular Cell, one of the world's leading scientific journals.
Mtb survives either in active or latent growth phase and most of the drugs available for TB target active growth phase population only. But the real cause of the global TB burden is the asymptomatic latent population as these are extremely difficult to diagnose and there is no effective drug for this growth form of Mtb.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection spread by inhaling tiny droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person. Typical symptoms include a persistent cough - sometimes with phlegm that is bloody, weight loss, night sweats, high temperature (fever), tiredness and fatigue, loss of appetite and swellings. An antibiotic called isoniazid (INH) is often prescribed to help prevent the dormant infection from becoming active. If you have active TB disease, your doctor will give you several antibiotics to treat the infection.
The untapped power of millionsIndia is home to the world's largest youth population. According to the United Nations Population Fund, 28 per cent of India's population lie between 10-24 years of age. India has a huge potential for rapid economic and social progress by tapping into the potential of this young demographic.
On a hot August morning in 2014, I reached Dharavi in Mumbai at around 11 am. I waited outside for Govinda, a Program Manager with NGO Operation ASHA, who heads a team of community health workers. He and his team work towards the treatment of TB patients in the area, known as one of India’s ‘TB hotspots’. This is of course firmly away from the more glamorous part of Mumbai – that of film stars and celebrities. Here, concerns are a lot more basic. Like how Govinda arrived on his bike and asked if I had my N95 mask ready before we went in to interview TB patients and their families. The mask is a great preventive measure against the disease and in fact, all health workers must wear it, but since it was the first time for me, I felt uneasy. “Won’t it seem like I want to maintain distance from them if I am wearing the mask? Doesn’t it create more stigma?” I asked Govinda.“Don’t worry madam, they are used to it,” he replied.
It began as a cough, a slow, lingering and painful cough, which suddenly became tearing and explosive. She felt as if her chest would tear apart and her entire lungs explode with the violence of the cough. With the cough came the unmistakable taste of blood and phlegm in the mouth.Hamida was frightened. She rolled on the floor and found her menstrual rag. Wash one, use one, her mother had taught her years ago. Luckily it was the washed one. She stuffed it in her mouth, trying to suppress the hacking sounds. Her husband lay on a narrow cot nearby, snoring loudly, and deep in the arms of Morpheus. Lucky for me he had a drink last night, thought Hamida, he will never know about the blood. If at all he notices, I could pass it off as the ‘woman thing’, and he will never know.
United Nations: India recorded the largest number of Tuberculosis cases in the world in 2014, according to a report by the WHO that said 1.5 million people died in 2014 from the disease which ranks alongside HIV as a leading killer worldwide.World Health Organisation's Global Tuberculosis Report 2015, released on Wednesday, said that of the 9.6 million new TB cases in 2014, 58 per cent were in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection spread by inhaling tiny droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person. Typical symptoms include a persistent cough - sometimes with phlegm that is bloody, weight loss, night sweats, high temperature (fever), tiredness and fatigue, loss of appetite and swellings. An antibiotic called isoniazid (INH) is often prescribed to help prevent the dormant infection from becoming active. If you have active TB disease, your doctor will give you several antibiotics to treat the infection.
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Tuberculosis (TB) is a top infectious disease killer worldwide.
In 2014, 9.6 million people fell ill with TB and 1.5 million died from the disease.
Over 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and it is among the top 5 causes of death for women aged 15 to 44.
In 2014, an estimated 1 million children became ill with TB and 140 000 children died of TB.
TB is a leading killer of HIV-positive people: in 2015, 1 in 3HIV deaths was due to TB.
Globally in 2014, an estimated 480 000 people developed multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
The Millennium Development Goal target of halting and reversing the TB epidemic by 2015 has been met globally. TB incidence has fallen by an average of 1.5% per year since 2000 and is now 18% lower than the level of 2000.
The TB death rate dropped 47% between 1990 and 2015.
An estimated 43 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment between 2000 and 2014.
Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals.
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable. TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air. A person needs to inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.
About one-third of the world's population has latent TB, which means people have been infected by TB bacteria but are not (yet) ill with the disease and cannot transmit the disease. People infected with TB bacteria have a 10% lifetime risk of falling ill with TB. However, persons with compromised immune systems, such as people living with HIV, malnutrition or diabetes, or people who use tobacco, have a much higher risk of falling ill.
When a person develops active TB disease, the symptoms (cough, fever, night sweats, weight loss etc.) may be mild for many months. This can lead to delays in seeking care, and results in transmission of the bacteria to others. People with active TB can infect 10-15 other people through close contact over the course of a year. Without proper treatment, 45% of HIV-negative people with TB on average and nearly all HIV-positive people with TB will die.
Tuberculosis mostly affects adults in their most productive years. However, all age groups are at risk. Over 95% of cases and deaths are in developing countries.
People who are infected with HIV are 20 to 30 times more likely to develop active TB (see TB and HIV section). The risk of active TB is also greater in persons suffering from other conditions that impair the immune system.
One million children (0-14 years) fell ill with TB, and 140 000 children died from the disease in 2014.
Tobacco use greatly increases the risk of TB disease and death. More than 20% of TB cases worldwide are attributable to smoking.
TB occurs in every part of the world. In 2014, the largest number of new TB cases occurred in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions, accounting for 58% of new cases globally. However, Africa carried the most severe burden, with 281 cases per 100 000 population in 2014 (compared with a global average of 133). In 2014, about 80% of reported TB cases occurred in 22 countries. The 6 countries that stand out as having the largest number of incident cases in 2014 were India, Indo¬nesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China and South Africa. Some countries are experiencing a major decline in cases, while in others the numbers are dropping very slowly. Brazil and China for example, are among the 22 countries with a sustained decline in TB cases over the past 20 years
Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. Many countries still rely on a long-used method called sputum smear microscopy to diagnose TB. Trained laboratory technicians look at sputum samples under a microscope to see if TB bacteria are present. With 3 such tests, diagnosis can be made within a day, but this test does not detect numerous cases of less infectious forms of TB.
Diagnosing MDR-TB (see Multidrug-resistant TB section below) and HIV-associated TB can be more complex. A new 2 hour test that has proven highly effective in diagnosing TB and the presence of drug resistance is now being rolled-out in many countries.
Tuberculosis is particularly difficult to diagnose in children.
TB is a treatable and curable disease. Active, drug-susceptible TB disease is treated with a standard 6 month course of 4 antimicrobial drugs that are provided with information, supervision and support to the patient by a health worker or trained volunteer. Without such support, treatment adherence can be difficult and the disease can spread. The vast majority of TB cases can be cured when medicines are provided and taken properly.
Between 2000 and 2014, an estimated 43 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment.
At least one-third of people living with HIV worldwide in 2014 were infected with TB bacteria. People living with HIV are 20 to 30 times more likely to develop active TB disease than people without HIV.
HIV and TB form a lethal combination, each speeding the other's progress. In 2014 about 0.4 million people died of HIV-associated TB. Approximately one third of deaths among HIV-positive people were due to TB in 2014. In 2014 there were an estimated 1.2 million new cases of TB among people who were HIV-positive, 74% of whom were living in Africa.
W.H.O recommends a 12-component approach of collaborative TB-HIV activities, including actions for prevention and treatment of infection and disease, to reduce deaths.
W.H.O pursues 6 core functions in addressing TB.
> Provide global leadership on matters critical to TB.
> Develop evidence-based policies, strategies and standards for TB prevention, care and control, and monitor their implementation.
> Provide technical support to Member States, catalyze change, and build sustainable capacity.
> Monitor the global TB situation, and measure progress in TB care, control, and financing.
> Shape the TB research agenda and stimulate the production, translation and dissemination of valuable knowledge.
> Facilitate and engage in partnerships for TB action.
The WHO End TB Strategy, adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2014, is a blueprint for countries to end the TB epidemic by driving down TB deaths, incidence and eliminating catastrophic costs. It outlines global impact targets to reduce TB deaths by 90% and to cut new cases by 80% between 2015 and 2030, and to ensure that no family is burdened with catastrophic costs due to TB.
Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals.
WHO has gone one step further and set a 2035 target of 95% reduction in deaths and a 90% decline in TB incidence - similar to current levels in low TB incidence countries today.
The Strategy outlines 3 strategic pillars that need to be put in place to effectively end the epidemic:
Pillar 1: integrated patient-centered care and prevention
Pillar 2: bold policies and supportive systems
Pillar 3: intensified research and innovation.
The success of the Strategy will depend on countries respecting the following 4 key principles as they implement the interventions outlined in each pillar:
> government stewardship and accountability, with monitoring and evaluation strong coalition with civil society organizations and communities
> protection and promotion of human rights, ethics and equity
> adaptation of the strategy and targets at country level, with global collaboration