India has changed the name of the TB control programme. It is no longer known as the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) but as National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP). The intent behind this is to align the programme with India's goal of eliminating TB by 2025. Beginning January 1, 2020, India’s TB control programme … Continue reading India’s TB control programme renamed to reflect its intent on ending TB
Tuberculosis (TB)
TB diagnostic test developed in India has high diagnostic accuracy, says WHO
Truenat, a molecular test to diagnose pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB and rifampicin-resistant TB, has high diagnostic accuracy, says WHO. Truenat was developed in India. It can be used as an initial and point-of-care tool for diagnosing TB at primary, community health centres. In a Rapid Communication published on January 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) … Continue reading TB diagnostic test developed in India has high diagnostic accuracy, says WHO
Combination therapy using malaria drug quickly clears TB
IISc researchers have discovered the mechanism by which TB bacteria develop tolerance to TB drugs. They found a combination of malaria and TB drug can prevent the bacteria from developing drug tolerance. The drug combination cleared TB bacteria from mice lungs in eight weeks. Researchers from Bengaluru have made an important discovery of the mechanism … Continue reading Combination therapy using malaria drug quickly clears TB
Stimulating two receptors on macrophages helps clear TB bacteria
Researchers from IIT Ropar and CSIR-IMTECH have found that stimulating two specific receptors found on the macrophages helps in killing TB bacteria. Once activated, the macrophages eliminate the bacteria through autophagy. Activating the receptors leads to ten-fold reduction in anti-TB drug required to kill TB bacteria. Instead of using drugs to directly kill TB bacteria, … Continue reading Stimulating two receptors on macrophages helps clear TB bacteria
Novel way found to kill dormant TB bacteria in stem cells
Delhi-based researchers have found that TB bacteria promote rapid synthesis of lipids inside mesenchymal stem cells and hide within the lipid droplets so created. They found that TB bacteria hijack the cellular mechanism to stop the stem cells from replicating and turn themselves dormant. They found a way to rid the stem cells of bacteria and … Continue reading Novel way found to kill dormant TB bacteria in stem cells
Cheap, filter-based kits developed for TB diagnosis, drug-resistance testing
Three cheap, filter-based kits developed by a multi-institutional team and an industry partner improves the sensitivity of LED fluorescence microscopy by 5%, enable transport of sputum samples at ambient conditions without bio-safe containers and TB drug-resistance testing using molecular methods. To address the TB diagnostic challenges, a multi-institutional team has developed three cost-effective kits that … Continue reading Cheap, filter-based kits developed for TB diagnosis, drug-resistance testing
Pretomanid: XDR-TB may soon become easily treatable
Though the total number of people with XDR-TB and treatment intolerant or non-responsive MDR-TB who will require the new anti-TB drug Pretomanid may not be high, these are people who have very little alternative treatment options that are both safe and efficacious. Unlike in the case of bedaquiline, pretomanid might become affordable. The anti-tuberculosis drug … Continue reading Pretomanid: XDR-TB may soon become easily treatable
Explainer: What makes the new drug-resistant TB medicine Pretomanid promising
When used in combination with bedaquiline and linezolid, the newly approved pretomanid drug for MDR-TB and XDR-TB had an overall treatment success rate of about 90%. Besides better effectiveness, the duration of treatment is just six months. Treating drug-resistant tuberculosis — multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) — got a shot in the … Continue reading Explainer: What makes the new drug-resistant TB medicine Pretomanid promising
Tweaked pharmacy referral model increases TB case-finding in Patna
Tweaking the existing pharmacy referral system in Patna brought huge benefits. Instead of referring symptomatic TB patients to doctor for consultation, referring them for an X-ray before consulting a doctor increased the referral rate by 62 times and increased TB diagnosis 25 times. By slightly changing the way private pharmacies help people with symptomatic TB … Continue reading Tweaked pharmacy referral model increases TB case-finding in Patna
IGIB unravels a new mechanism TB bacteria use to subvert host defence
IGIB researchers have found that besides degradative pathways, TB bacteria actively manipulate another organelle — lipid droplets in macrophages. When lipid droplets are infected with TB bacteria, the composition of 86 proteins gets altered. Based on increased abundance of certain proteins, the team found two pathways have a link with lipid metabolism. It is well … Continue reading IGIB unravels a new mechanism TB bacteria use to subvert host defence
Science Chronicle 