Tuberculosis kills nearly 2 million people annually, and kills more adults than malaria, AIDS, and all tropical diseases combined. TB is the cause of one in four avoidable deaths in the Third World. In recent years, there have been dramatic increases in the number of new cases worldwide, as well as an emergence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains that are resistant to two of the major drugs in the first-line treatment or to some second-line treatment drugs…

UNITAID welcomes the announcement today of the MASSIVEGOOD initiative, established to provide additional funding for UNITAID’s work in expanding access to treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Launched by the Millennium Foundation, a Swiss based foundation supported by UNITAID, MASSIVEGOOD brings together leading companies in the travel industry to kick off an individual and corporate movement in the United States to raise funds for global health. “We look forward to this initiative becoming significant,” said Jorge Bermudez, Executive Secretary of UNITAID…

When people get exposed to the mycobacterium responsible for tuberculosis (TB), some will become sick with a disease that is a major cause of mortality around the world while others simply don’t. Now, researchers reporting in the March 5th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, can point to one important reason for this variation in susceptibility or resistance: genetic differences among individuals in levels of an immune enzyme (LTA4H) that is involved in the production of leukotriene B, a pro-inflammatory fatty acid immune signaling molecule…

University of Washington (UW) researchers have identified a gene involved in susceptibility and resistance to tuberculosis. This same gene, they have found, has a role in the severity of leprosy, which is caused by a related pathogen. The researchers also have learned why this gene is important for susceptibility. The gene, lta4h, appears to orchestrate pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. When these responses are balanced, the body destroys invaders without unduly hurting itself. But an imbalance results in problems..

Unequal progress in achieving U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for tuberculosis and child mortality in low-income countries is related to the countries’ burdens of HIV and non-communicable diseases (NCD), according to a study published Tuesday in the journal PLoS Medicine, Reuters reports (Kelland, 3/2). For the study, researchers calculated the distance 227 countries had to reach their MDG goals for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and infant and child mortality targets for the year 2005…

Initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) during tuberculosis therapy significantly reduced mortality rates by 56 percent in a randomized clinical trial of 642 patients co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis. The study, which provides further impetus for the integration of TB and HIV services, lays to rest the controversy on whether co-infected patients should initiate ART during or after TB treatment. Findings are published in the February 25th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine…

Radio Australia Interviews Global Fund Executive Director Radio Australia examines the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s push for more funding from Australia and China. Global Fund Executive Director “Michel Kazatchkine is currently touring the world’s capitals seeking renewed government pledges to build on an already impressive record and as well as looking to Australia to do more, he’s hoping soon to get China to become not just recipient, but donor.” The show features an interview with Kazatchkine (Mottram, 2/23). U.N…

A “controversial” study, released on Sunday, “suggests international rules that bar potentially infectious tuberculosis patients from flying are too stringent and airline passengers are really at little risk from catching TB from a fellow traveler,” the Associated Press/Washington Post reports. The paper is being published in the March edition of Lancet Infectious Diseases (Stobbe, 2/21)…

A simple change in the drug regimen used to prevent active tuberculosis disease among HIV-positive people who test positive for latent TB infection can drastically reduce TB-related illness, suggests a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To prevent latent TB infection from progressing to active TB disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends six months of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for HIV-infected individuals who also test positive for latent TB infection…

Discovery Of Chemical Reaction Process Could Lead To New Malaria, TB Treatments Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say that a recent finding could help develop new treatments to fight diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, KWMU reports (LaCapra, 2/15). The researchers “say they’ve discovered an unusual chemical reaction that allows malaria parasites and many bacteria to survive. …