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8 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in TB Treatment

The Sanatorium Files: Part 3 – The Sanatorium Movement

This is the third installment in our series “The Sanatorium Files.” Without the scientific understanding needed to develop effective therapeutics to fight tuberculosis in its many forms, doctors, patients, families and charlatans looking to make a profit tried a wide range of treatments to offer any hope of relief and a cure. One of the most universal and pervasive approaches for people with the most common pulmonary form of the disease was that of rest and fresh air for patients, leading to the creation and proliferation of sanatoriums, or long-term TB treatment hospitals/resorts in Europe and the U.S.

7 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in Front Lines of TB R&D

This week in TB R&D – 7 July 2010

In our latest ‘Sanatorium Files’ post ‘Diagnosis Dilemma’, we commented on the current advances in TB diagnostics. We’re following up on this theme for the next couple of posts to share the scientific data supporting some of the most promising of these new diagnostic tools. 
This year, two reports were published in the Journal of Clinical [...]

7 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in Front Lines of TB R&D, TB News

TB Alliance: New Potential TB Drugs to be Investigated Against Multiple Neglected Diseases

New York, United States and Geneva, Switzerland — July 7, 2010 The TB Alliance and Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) announced today a unique first-ever royalty-free license agreement between two not-for-profit drug developers that speeds progress toward markedly improved therapy of multiple neglected diseases.

6 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in TB News

TB on the Agenda at the World Cup

Tuberculosis is on the agenda at the Football for Hope Festival 2010 – an official event of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa – which opened Sunday in Johannesburg. The week-long event celebrates the power of football for social change, with 32 teams of young people from disadvantaged communities around the world gathering for a festival of football, culture, education and entertainment.

6 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in TB News

TBVI Releases 2009 Annual Report

TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI), a foundation that aims to develop new vaccines for tuberculosis, today released its annual report 2009. In 2009 TBVI made significant progress in its overall objective to develop new vaccines for tuberculosis. Preceded by many years of research and development, last year four vaccine candidates moved from discovery phase to early clinical development. Furthermore, TBVI expanded its network with several new research partners and completed the formation of its Board of Trustees.

2 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in TB Prevention and Control Strategies

WHO Releases Factsheet on Children and TB

Over 250,000 children develop TB and 100,000 children will continue to die each year from TB. A child usually gets TB infection from being exposed to a sputum-positive adult. Young children below ten years of age are at risk of becoming infected with TB bacilli. They are also at high risk of developing active tuberculosis because the immune system of young children is less developed.

2 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in TB News

Aeras Appoints New President and CEO

The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation today announced that James E. Connolly has been named President and Chief Executive Officer. He joins Aeras after a career in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Wyeth Vaccines. He will take over as Aeras President and CEO on August 9, 2010.

1 Jul 2010
by Working Group

Posted in TB Treatment

The Sanatorium Files Part 2: The Diagnosis Dilemma

The Diagnosis Dilemma: How Could They Treat It If They Didn’t Know What It Was?
Until the discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin in 1944, sufferers of tuberculosis and their physicians throughout recorded history did not know that the diverse collection of maladies and symptoms they fought were all different manifestations of the same disease1:

pulmonary tuberculosis, also [...]

30 Jun 2010
by Working Group

Posted in TB Prevention and Control Strategies

The War on Tuberculosis – DOTS in Newark, NJ

Haile Meskel emerges from his Newark, New Jersey, row house and slips into the passenger seat of a shiny, late-model sedan, where a woman waits for him, a tiny white envelope and bottled water at the ready. He swallows a handful of pills as the woman watches. Within a couple of minutes the transaction is over. To the casual observer, this might look like one of the many furtive, illegal transactions that take place in this city every day—but it’s no drug deal. This is an example of directly observed therapy (DOT), which many public health and infectious disease experts believe is the single best method of treating people infected with tuberculosis and controlling the spread of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains in the United States and around the world.

29 Jun 2010
by Working Group

Posted in Front Lines of TB R&D, TB News

This Week in TB R&D – 29 June 2010

By far, one of the greatest needs in TB R&D is the identification of biomarkers. The value of biomarkers cannot be overemphasized. Briefly, we will highlight what biomarkers are, how they are used, and describe their importance and potential for significant impact for TB drug discovery.