Monday, February 16, 2009
Database may speed diagnosis of drug-resistant TB
A new publicly available Web database allows quick searches of specific mutations associated with drug-resistant tuberculosis. The tool includes the most common mutations found for the major groups of anti-TB drugs, something researchers hope will speed development of new sequence-based diagnostic tools and avoid treatment delays "during which patients receive suboptimal therapy that may lead to development of additional resistance and further spread of drug-resistant TB," according to researchers who developed the tool.
The database is easy to use, just click on a drug class, such as aminoglycosides or ethambutol, select a gene associated with resistance, and a histogram pops up displaying the mutations and corresponding confidence levels.
The research behind the database is explained in a study by led by Harvard epidemiologists published in the current issue of PLoS Medicine.
Labels: epidemiology, tuberculosis
posted by Janet Colwell at
9:51 AM
0 Comments
Thursday, January 29, 2009
TB and drugs: A double whammy
Nearly one-fifth of U.S. tuberculosis patients abuse drugs or alcohol, which is a problem in and of itself. But the substance abuse also makes it harder to treat the TB, according to a release from a new study in Archives of Internal Medicine.
TB patients are more likely to be substance abusers than to be recent immigrants, infected with HIV, homeless or working at a high-risk job, the study found. Substance abusers with TB, but without HIV, were almost twice as likely to have a contagious form of TV than non-abusers, and women substance abusers were more than twice as likely to fail treatment.
Why is this? Substance abusers may not get routine medical treatment, so they are less likely to be detected early. Since TB often spreads faster as the disease progresses, these undetected substance abusers would be more contagious, study authors said. And they may be harder to treat because of weakened immune systems.
Labels: drugs, infectious disease, TB, tuberculosis
posted by Jessica Berthold at
3:12 PM
0 Comments
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
TB or not TB
Here is something to keep in mind if you encounter foreign-born patients from Sub-Saharan Africa and SE Asia in your U.S. practice or hospital.
A new JAMA study found folks from these areas-- and now living in the US-- were the most likely foreign-born patients to have latent TB. Vietnamese and Filipinos had some of the highest rates, as did Peruvians.
Of course, U.S.-born patients can get TB too; in 2006, they accounted for 43% of cases vs. 57% by foreign-borns.
Also, some good news on the TB front, courtesy of NEJM.
It seems that extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) can be cured in HIV-negative patients via outpatient treatment, even in countries with limited resources.
More than 60% of Peruvian patients with XDR-TB in the study were cured after getting personalized, daily treatment at home or in community settings. That's a better cure rate than at most US and European hospitals.
The success of the setting is important, as XDR-TB patients are forcibly quarantined in unsavory TB hospitals in some countries, the authors noted. Perhaps the study will help put an end to that practice.
Labels: tuberculosis, XDR-TB
posted by Jessica Berthold at
5:00 PM
0 Comments
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