Tuberculosis TB - Biotech, Pharma and Life Science Channel
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.
Over nine million new cases of TB, and nearly two million deaths from TB, are estimated to occur around the world every year, and new infections occur at a rate of about one per second. TB is the leading cause of death among curable infectious diseases. The World Health Organization declared TB a global emergency in 1993. In addition, more people in the developed world contract tuberculosis because their immune systems are more likely to be compromised due to higher exposure to immunosuppressive drugs, substance abuse, or 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 US population test positive
TB usually causes disease in the lungs (pulmonary), but can also affect other parts of the body (extra-pulmonary). Only the pulmonary form of TB disease is infectious. Transmission occurs through coughing of infectious droplets, and usually requires prolonged close contact with an infectious case. TB is curable with a combination of specific antibiotics, but treatment must be continued for at least six months. Most infections in humans result in an asymptomatic, latent infection, and about one in ten latent infections eventually progresses to active disease, which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of its victims.
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. 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.
Source; HPA
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PubMed Articles
Genetic Diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Recent years have witnessed an increased appreciation of the extent and relevance of strain-to-strain variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This paradigm shift can largely be attributed to an impro...
Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) often goes undiagnosed because of the lack of reliable diagnostic methods. With the aim of assessing biomarker(s) that can aid in the diagnosis of TB infection and disease,...
SUMMARY Understanding how seasonality shapes the dynamics of tuberculosis (TB) is essential in determining risks of transmission and drug resistance in (sub)tropical regions. We developed a relative f...
Nanoelectrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (nanoESI MS) of intact protein complexes was used to study CYP121, one of the twenty cytochrome P450s in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and an enzyme th...
MODELING THE EFFECTS OF IMMUNIZATIONS TIMING ON CHILD HEALTH OUTCOMES IN INDIA.
Timely vaccinations of children in developing countries are important for reducing morbidity and mortality, which are Millennium Development Goals. However, a majority of children do not possess vacci...
Tuberculosis of the Pubic Symphysis: Four Unusual Cases and Literature Review.
BACKGROUND: The incidence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) has increased in the chemotherapeutic era owing to the increasing presence of immunodeficiency disorders. Pubic symphysis TB, although unc...
Disordered Toll-like receptor 2 responses in the pathogenesis of pulmonary sarcoidosis.
We hypothesized that the granulomatous disorder sarcoidosis is not caused by a single pathogen, but rather results from abnormal responses of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) to conserved bacterial elements...
Frequency and correlates of anxiety and mood disorders among TB- and HIV-infected Zambians.
Abstract We determined the frequency and correlates of current common mental disorders (CMDs) in a consecutive series of 649 adult patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis (TB) o...
To find out the anti-mycobacterial potential of Cassia sophera (C. sophera), Urtica dioica (U. dioica), Momordica dioica, Tribulus terrestris and Coccinia indica plants against multi-drug resistant (M...
3-Deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (DAH7PS) catalyzes the first step in the shikimate pathway, the pathway responsible for the biosynthesis of the aromatic amino acids Trp, Phe, and...
News Articles
[Comment] Infectious diseases in Pakistan: a clear and present danger
Many diseases are common in Pakistan, including endemic and epidemic infectious diseases, emerging infections, and an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases. An estimated 8–9 million people...
Tuberculosis Pathogen Proteome Atlas
Photographers know the problem all too well: with the naked eye, you can see which branch a bird is sitting on, but spotting the bird in the blur of branches through the telephoto lens for high-magnif...
Proteome atlas for the tuberculosis pathogen
(ETH Zurich) Researchers from ETH Zurich have mapped the coordinates for all the proteins of the tuberculosis pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thanks to this "atlas", scientists are now able to ea...
Significant Near-Term Top-Line Data Catalyst And Platform Technology Should Propel Insmed
By Scott Matusow:The Orphan Drug Act was passed in January 1983 to encourage companies to develop drugs that treat rare medical conditions. Companies that receive Orphan Drug Status gain certain finan...
SOURCE: GBCHealth DESCRIPTION:New York, NY, May 13, 2013 /3BL Media/ - Join the GBCHealth annual Conference via livestream for the only event focused exclusively on the role of the private sector in...
With suspected TB, behavioral support curbs smoking
(HealthDay)—Behavioral support with or without bupropion is effective at achieving smoking cessation in patients with suspected tuberculosis, according to a study published in the May 7 issue of the...
AHF, KANCO organize NO RETREAT ON AIDS march to call for more global HIV/AIDS funding
Concerned that key partners in the fight against HIV & AIDS like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief are losing funding due to go...
ITM researchers develop, test a combination of tools to diagnose SN-TB
Researchers at the Institute of Tropical Medicine have successfully developed and tested a combination of simple clinical, radiological and laboratory tools to diagnose smear-negative tuberculosis.
Structural guidance for malaria and TB
The Structural Genomics Consortium, with grant support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is spearheading a project to develop pharma-quality medicinal chemistry capabilities in malaria and tub...
Events
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Companies
Akonni Biosystems and Eppendorf North America
Akonni Biosystems was founded in 2003 and has over 20 patents issued with 13 others pending. The companyâs core technology is based on work developed at Argonne National Labo...
The Trudeau Institute is an independent, not-for-profit, biomedical research organization, whose scientific mission is to make breakthrough discoveries leading to improved human h...
Few inventions in science and medicine have had such a profound effect on human health as the discovery and subsequent development of antibiotics. Following their introduction during World War II ma...
Nutra Pharma Corp. (OTCBB: NPHC) is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the acquisition, licensing and commercialization of pharmaceutical products and technologies for the management of neuro...
We have a challenging and inspiring mission: to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. This mission gives us the purpose to develop innovative me...
NanoLogix is a biotechnology company focused primarily on medical diagnostics. Its products offer accelerated detection and identification of microorganisms present in infectious and non-infectious hu...
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of vaccines and antibody therapies that assist the bodyâ...
Clinical Trials
Can Screening People Registering With Primary Care Improve the Detection of Tuberculosis?
This randomised controlled trial tests whether screening people registering with general practices cost-effectively increases the detection of tuberculosis. The study objectives are to:...
Effect of Public Sector Antiretroviral Treatment Programme on Tuberculosis and Immunization Care
A scale-up of public sector antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes may divert scarce resources from other priority primary care programmes like tuberculosis and childhood immunization....
Efficacy of Anti-Tubercular Vaccination in Multiple Sclerosis
The frequency of auto-immune diseases (including multiple sclerosis) is increasing in industrialised countries. According to an hypothesis which is receiving a wide international credit,...
TB Nutrition, Immunology and Epidemiology
The purpose of this study is to see whether people who take vitamins along with the standard medicine for tuberculosis (TB) recover better and quicker than people who take only the standar...
Randomized Clinical Trial of 4RIF Vs. 9INH for the Treatment of Latent TB
Although effective medications to treat and even prevent Tuberculosis (TB) have been available for over 40 years, TB remains the most important infectious cause of mortality among adults i...
There are new TB vaccines already developed that need to be tried in humans to assess their efficacy. The researchers had previously shown that production of interferon gamma by T cells i...
Treatment of Latent TB Infection for Jailed Persons
The purpose of this study is to determine whether an alternative drug, (rifampin) given daily, is better at treating tuberculosis (TB) and more tolerable than the usual drug treatment, iso...
Successful therapy of both tuberculosis and HIV disease share similar problems: pill burden, drug interaction, adherence challenge and toxicity. This study will test the efficacy and safet...
This protocol will screen healthy normal volunteers for participation in studies of vaccines under development at NIAID's Vaccine Research Center. Of interest are vaccines for: - Newl...
Screening HIV-Infected Patients for Vaccine Studies
This screening study will evaluate potential study volunteers with HIV infection to see if they are suitable candidates for trials of experimental vaccines against HIV (therapeutic), and a...
Videos
Tuberculosis (TB)
A specialist explains how TB, an infection of the lungs, is transmitted, what the symptoms are, who is most at risk, and how it can be treated.
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Tuberculosis Vaccines
Vaccines or candidate vaccines used to prevent or treat TUBERCULOSIS.
Extensively Drug-resistant Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis resistant to ISONIAZID and RIFAMPIN and at least three of the six main classes of second-line drugs (AMINOGLYCOSIDES; polypeptide agents; FLUOROQUINOLONES; THIOAMIDES; CYCLOSERINE; and PARA-AMINOSALICYLIC ACID) as defined by the CDC.
Latent Tuberculosis
The dormant form of TUBERCULOSIS where the person shows no obvious symptoms and no sign of the causative agent (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) in the SPUTUM despite being positive for tuberculosis infection skin test.
Pyuria
The presence of white blood cells (LEUKOCYTES) in the urine. It is often associated with bacterial infections of the urinary tract. Pyuria without BACTERIURIA can be caused by TUBERCULOSIS, stones, or cancer.
Silicotuberculosis
Pulmonary or extrapulmonary infection caused by MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS or nontuberculous mycobacteria in a patient with silicosis.
