New Antibiotic Could Be a Breakthrough in Treatment for Killer TB, Trial Suggests (theguardian.com) 15
A new treatment for tuberculosis could boost cure rates and shorten the time needed to treat the disease by months, trial results suggest. The Guardian: Globally, an estimated 10.7 million people fell ill with TB last year and 1.23 million died from it. In its annual report on tuberculosis, launched last week, the World Health Organization said it remained a "major global public-health problem" and the leading infectious cause of death. [...] Sorfequiline, a new antibiotic, showed stronger action against the deadly bacteria than existing treatments, with a comparable safety profile, researchers from the TB Alliance told the Union Conference on Lung Health in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
The trial involved 309 people across 22 sites in South Africa, the Philippines, Georgia, Tanzania and Uganda, with different dose regimens. All participants had "drug-sensitive" tuberculosis, meaning a standard cocktail of drugs can safely treat them but researchers believe TB infections that are resistant to standard treatment could also be helped. The trial suggested a sorfequiline-based regimen could be used for anyone testing positive, said Dr Maria Beumont, vice-president of TB Alliance.
The trial involved 309 people across 22 sites in South Africa, the Philippines, Georgia, Tanzania and Uganda, with different dose regimens. All participants had "drug-sensitive" tuberculosis, meaning a standard cocktail of drugs can safely treat them but researchers believe TB infections that are resistant to standard treatment could also be helped. The trial suggested a sorfequiline-based regimen could be used for anyone testing positive, said Dr Maria Beumont, vice-president of TB Alliance.
Great (Score:4, Insightful)
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Ehh, get in line, I need to feed it to my cows first and spray my crops with it for good measure.
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While there's a lot of justified cynicism about antibiotic overuse and resistance, in the case of TB, the main driver of resistance isn't misuse, overuse, or noncompliance. It has to do with several factors: the nature of the infection; the transmissibility of disease; incomplete efficacy of gold standard treatments; and the disproportionate prevalence of disease in developing countries where public health and sanitation standards are lower. In other words, when it comes to TB, it's not because people ar
Mom's of the world will prevent it. (Score:2)
Re: Mom's of the world will prevent it. (Score:2)
Antibacterial soap doesn't use antibiotics, it uses chemicals known to destroy antibiotics directly and physically. It's usually done with compounds they can't reasonably develop resistance to. This is easier than in antibiotics because they don't have to be safe to put in your body.
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That's what got Arthur (Score:1)
I thought TB was only relevant in RDR2... It's a hell of a thing.
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I thought TB was only relevant in RDR2...
Also to Doc Holliday.
This commentary is really depressing (Score:2)
Search in Slashdot for "COVID19". Nearly every story has hundreds of comments to it. Meanwhile, this story has all of four comments at the time of this posting.
Boys and girls, Tuberculosis has killed over a billion people [nih.gov]. COVID19 is only in the single millions right now. The only reason why this article received four comments so far is because it's not affecting the western world where the Slashdot userbase is most prevalent. It's destroying the developing world instead, but I guess nobody here really
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The BCG vaccine has also been found to be effective against bladder cancer. One of the two manufacturers bailed out of the market about a decade ago, limiting supply for both TB and bladder cancer.
They just opened a new manufacturing facility in Durham this past Spring to make much more. Not sure if it's producing yet, but it was a four-year build.
TB affects so few Americans that you can't even get BCG for TB prevention if you want it. Hopefully high-risk folks will be able to elect to get it soon.
Re:This commentary is really depressing (Score:4, Interesting)
Boys and girls, Tuberculosis has killed over a billion people [nih.gov].
...over 143 years, 46 of which were before the discovery of the first antibiotic.
COVID19 is only in the single millions right now.
over six years, all but about one of which were post-vaccine. These two diseases are not really comparable in any meaningful way.
The only reason why this article received four comments so far is because it's not affecting the western world where the Slashdot userbase is most prevalent.
About 1.23 million people die from TB in a typical year, which is not that far off from the worldwide COVID death toll each year. We're mostly not talking about COVID anymore, either.
It's destroying the developing world instead, but I guess nobody here really cares about that.
The world is in desperate need of new Tuberculosis vaccines. If you don't understand why, please watch this Kurzgesagt video on the subject [youtube.com].
Vaccines for bacteria are... problematic at best, because they have relatively low effectiveness at preventing infection. The best way to eliminate TB is to get clean water everywhere. Stopping TB through vaccination is like stopping pedestrian deaths with inflatable pedestrian balls. Yeah, it might reduce the mortality, but the real problem is unsafe pedestrian crossings / unsafe drinking water.
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Vaccines for bacteria are... problematic at best, because they have relatively low effectiveness at preventing infection. The best way to eliminate TB is to get clean water everywhere. Stopping TB through vaccination is like stopping pedestrian deaths with inflatable pedestrian balls. Yeah, it might reduce the mortality, but the real problem is unsafe pedestrian crossings / unsafe drinking water.
Actually, I was remembering wrong there. Although TB can spread in other ways, it is primarily an airborne pathogen. So the biggest way to reduce the spread would be to add central heat and air with fresh air mixing and reduce the number of people sharing air for long periods of time. The second best way is contact tracing and prophylactic treatment.
But to add further to the comment about vaccine effectiveness, bacterial vaccines can be at least somewhat effective at preventing disease, e.g. the bacteria
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(That there are only few comments is not that we don't care, just that we don't have an insight.) Related to western/rich countries, tuberculosis still occurs and is more prevalent within the homeless, prison, and migrant communities; also with the immunocompromised such as people living with HIV (AIDS). These populations for the most live at the margins of society and therefore bear a lower online footprint, or have fewer members to talk for them.
Now since you allowed yourself to criticise everybody here f
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No, the reason covid19 stories have so many comments is because they were political.
TB is not political. At least not yet.
But you can't AFFORD IT! (Score:1)