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U.S. Tuberculosis Cases Hit Record Low, CDC Says

Posted 22 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 22 – Tuberculosis rates fell to an all-time low in the United States in 2011, but the disease continues to disproportionately infect racial and ethnic minorities, those who are foreign-born and people infected with HIV, federal officials reported Thursday. In all, 10,521 tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported in the United States in 2011, a 6.4 percent drop from 2010 – to 3.4 cases per 100,000 people. Still, infection rates were seven times higher for Hispanics, eight times higher for blacks and 25 times higher for Asians than for whites, the researchers found. "Despite the fact that TB is declining it is important to be vigilant about TB and the hardest-hit communities," said report co-author Dr. Gloria Oramasionwu, an Epidemic Intelligence Services Officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "But, if TB control measures aren't maintained here and ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

CDC Issues New TB Treatment Guidelines

Posted 8 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Dec. 8 – New guidelines on treating so-called "latent" tuberculosis infection in the United States should significantly shorten and simplify the course of the therapy from about 9 months to 3 months, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new guidelines for public health officials and health care providers – which are based on expert opinion and the results of three clinical trials – are a "game changer" for the treatment of TB in the United States, according to CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. Latent TB infection occurs when a person is infected with TB bacteria but does not yet have symptoms and so cannot transmit the bacteria to others. However, if the bacteria becomes active, the person will develop the disease and can also spread it to others. Certain people, including those with weakened immune systems, are more likely to progress from ... Read more

Related support groups: Isoniazid, Tuberculosis, Tuberculosis -- Latent, Rifapentine, Nydrazid, Priftin

Start HIV Drug Treatment Early in Patients With TB: Studies

Posted 19 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 – Three new studies provide insight into the best time to begin AIDS drug treatments in HIV-positive patients who are also infected with tuberculosis, a double whammy common in Africa. Starting the drugs earlier, even by a few weeks, could make a big difference for patients who are very sick, the research suggests. The cost of earlier treatment isn't much higher, and the drugs pay big dividends, said Dr. Diane V. Havlir, lead author of one of the studies. Her study found that starting the drugs within two weeks of diagnosis rather than eight weeks reduced the death rate or progression to more severe HIV by almost 40 percent in the sickest patients. "This is fabulous news. It's amazing that starting it at two weeks versus eight weeks makes such a difference," said Havlir, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and head of the AIDS ... Read more

Related support groups: HIV Infection, Tuberculosis, Tuberculosis -- HIV Positive

TB Outbreaks in Texas Schools Show Disease Still a Threat

Posted 14 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Oct. 14 – Outbreaks among young people in Texas of the old foe tuberculosis – often mistakenly dismissed as a long-ago health menace now confined to the pages of a Charles Dickens novel – show that the respiratory disease is still easily contracted and remains a potential threat to Americans, experts say. "Tuberculosis has always been with us and probably always will be," said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. At least 100 people have tested positive for tuberculosis (TB) on skin tests in Ennis, Texas, about 40 miles south of Dallas, including several students at the local high school. The testing was done after a teacher was diagnosed with TB before the start of the school year. And the University of North Texas in Denton – about 70 miles away – recommended that 27 people who had had contact with a student diagnosed with a ... Read more

Related support groups: Isoniazid, Tuberculosis, Rifampin, Ethambutol, Pyrazinamide, Myambutol, Rifadin, Rifadin IV, Rimactane, Nydrazid

Officials Tackle Multidrug-Resistant TB in Europe

Posted 15 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Sept. 15 – As Europe struggles to combat increasing rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis, health officials say the disease is less of a threat in North America – at least so far. But, they add, the ease of travel that's a hallmark of the modern world means no one should think they're beyond risk. "Drug-resistant TB exists all over the world," said Dr. Mel Spigelman, president and CEO of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, a nonprofit group working to combat the infectious respiratory disease. In the United States, most tuberculosis cases come from immigrants or visitors from other countries, Spigelman said, adding, "This highlights that we are in a mobile world and drug-resistant TB is spreading." On Tuesday, the World Health Organization unveiled a plan to combat the disease in Europe, which is home to nine countries with the world's highest rates of new ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis, Tuberculosis -- Resistant

U.S. Tuberculosis Cases Hit Record Low, CDC Says

Posted 25 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 24 – Rates of tuberculosis fell to an all-time low in the United States in 2010, but the disease continues to disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities, those that are foreign-born, and people infected with HIV, federal officials reported Thursday. There was a total of 11,181 tuberculosis (TB) cases reported in the United States in 2010, a 3.9 percent decline from 2009 – to 3.6 cases per 100,000 people. Still, infection rates were seven times higher for Hispanics, eight times higher for blacks, and 25 times higher for Asians than for whites, the researchers found. The study, released to coincide with World TB Day, also found that the TB rate was 11 times higher among those born outside the United States. "That's 60 percent of the cases," said Dr. Kenneth G. Castro, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Tuberculosis ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

Treating Latent TB After 65 Raises Serious Side-Effect Risk

Posted 11 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Jan. 10 – People over age 65 are at increased risk for serious side effects while undergoing latent tuberculosis therapy, a new study finds. Latent tuberculosis occurs when TB bacteria lurk in the body without making the person sick. The host has no symptoms of TB and is not contagious. However, there is still a chance the bacteria could multiply and cause tuberculosis, which can be fatal if it goes untreated. Latent TB therapy reduces the chances of developing active TB and is used in Canada and the United States as a way to control the disease. The decision to treat a patient with latent TB therapy depends on his or her risk of developing active disease and of experiencing harmful side effects, explained Dr. Dick Menzies, of the Montreal Chest Institute, and colleagues. In a six-year study of a large population of more than 9,000 latent TB patients who were treated for ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

Experimental TB Test Called Fast and Accurate

Posted 3 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Sept. 2 – An experimental test that can diagnose tuberculosis in less than two hours, making only one doctor visit necessary before treatment starts, is being hailed as a potentially significant advance against a disease that kills nearly 2 million people annually, most of them in developing countries. "This is a very important discovery," said infectious disease expert Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University. "This could be an important tool worldwide, and even here in the United States." The test, known as the "Xpert MTB/RIF" test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and resistance to rifampin (RIF), appears to be more than 97 percent accurate and is even able to diagnose drug-resistant TB, researchers said. A report on the researchers' work was published in the Sept. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Further trials of the new test ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

Two Ways to Tackle Tuberculosis

Posted 3 Jun 2009 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, June 3 – In the minds of most Americans, tuberculosis is a disease of the past. However, statistics show it's still a major global health problem. That's why two studies in the June 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine are important – one describes an international effort to detect tuberculosis (TB) among immigrants and refugees coming to the United States, the other reports on highly promising results of a new drug to treat the disease. According to the World Health Organization, there are nearly 9 million new TB cases and perhaps 1.5 million deaths from the disease annually. Even in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tallied up 13,293 new cases of TB in 2007. The research on the new screening program is important because "a substantial portion of newly diagnosed cases in the United States is among foreign-born individuals," ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

New Antibiotic Could Shorten TB Treatment

Posted 2 Apr 2009 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 2 – Using a new antibiotic called moxifloxacin in combination with other drugs could cut several months off the six months it currently takes to cure patients with drug-treatable tuberculosis, according to a phase 2 study. Long treatment times can result in patients failing to complete their drug therapy, so a shorter period of treatment could improve patient compliance, the researchers noted. Shorter TB treatment regimens would also reduce the workload for overburdened TB control programs, especially in countries with high TB rates. The study included 170 TB patients treated at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who were receiving a standard combination of three first-line TB drugs. They were randomly selected to receive as their fourth drug either moxifloxacin 400 milligrams, along with an ethambutol placebo (85 patients), or ethambutol (15-20 mg per kilogram of ... Read more

Related support groups: Avelox, Tuberculosis

TB Still Declining in U.S., But at Slower Rate

Posted 19 Mar 2009 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 19 – Tuberculosis cases reached an all-time low rate in the United States last year, according to a new federal government report. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 12,898 new cases of TB in 2008, which equals 4.2 cases per 100,000 people. However, the CDC report also noted that progress in eliminating tuberculosis has slowed in recent years, with a 3.8 percent average annual rate of decline between 2000 and 2008, compared with a 7.3 percent rate of decline from 1993 to 2000. In 2008, TB rates ranged from 0.5 per 100,000 in North Dakota to 9.6 per 100,000 in Hawaii, the study said. Although 33 states and the District of Columbia reported lower rates in 2008 than in 2007, 17 states had higher rates. Four states – California, Florida, New York and Texas – reported more than 500 TB cases each in 2008. Combined, these four states accounted for ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

Substance Abuse Hinders TB Treatment

Posted 27 Jan 2009 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Jan. 27 – The almost 20 percent of tuberculosis patients in the United States who say they abuse alcohol or illicit drugs are more contagious and difficult to treat than other TB patients, a new study shows. Researchers analyzed data from 153,268 patients aged 15 or older. Of those patients, 28,650 (18.7 percent) reported substance abuse. That's a greater percentage than any other established risk factor for TB, including recent immigration to the United States (12.9 percent), HIV infection (9.5 percent), living in a group setting (6.6 percent), homelessness (6.3 percent), or working in a high-risk job (4.3 percent). Among TB patients not infected with HIV, those who reported substance abuse were 1.8 times more likely to have a more contagious form of TB. Among women with TB, substance abusers were 2.4 times more likely to experience treatment failure. The findings were ... Read more

Related support groups: Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, Tuberculosis

Drug-Resistant TB Declines in United States

Posted 11 Nov 2008 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 11 – Running contrary to what is occurring elsewhere in the world, the number of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases in the United States has declined dramatically in the past 15 years. But U.S. government officials caution that the more than 13,000 other cases of TB in America in 2007 need to be reduced as well. TB is the leading cause of infectious disease death among adults worldwide, and drug-resistant TB (which includes multidrug-resistant TB and XDR-TB) is an increasing threat, with an estimated 489,000 new cases in 2006. In this study, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed 15 years of U.S. surveillance data from 1993 to 2007 and found that 83 cases of XDR-TB were reported during that time. The number of XDR-TB cases per year declined from 18 (0.07 percent of 25,107 TB cases) in 1993 to two (0.02 percent of 13,293 TB cases) in ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

Drug Resistance Is Slowing Global Fight Against TB

Posted 1 Aug 2008 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Aug. 1 – Standard methods of treating tuberculosis are failing in countries with high rates of multi-drug resistant (MDR) forms of the disease, say researchers who analyzed World Health Organization data from 2003 to 2004 for 155 countries. In countries with high rates of MDR-TB, patients are nearly twice as likely to fail their initial treatment than patients in countries with low rates of MDR-TB – 21.4 percent vs. 11.9 percent. The findings suggest that current TB treatment regimens need to be updated and revised, the study authors said. "In countries where the prevalence of initial drug resistance exceeds three percent, we believe it is urgent to strengthen capacity to perform drug sensitivity testing, or to reevaluate these standard treatment regimens, given the unacceptably high rates of failure and relapse," wrote lead author Dr. Dick Menzies, director of the respiratory ... Read more

Related support groups: Tuberculosis

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Tuberculosis -- Active, Tuberculosis -- Prophylaxis, Tuberculosis -- Latent, Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Tuberculosis -- Resistant, Tuberculosis -- Extrapulmonary, Tuberculosis -- HIV Positive, Tuberculosis -- HIV Negative, Tuberculosis -- HIV Status Unknown, Bacterial Infection