The world is sorely in need of new ways to prevent TB, not just treat it. Drugs to stave off the infection do exist, but the months-long regimens are difficult and people often do not finish the prescribed courses.
A team of researchers from the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School have found genetic foot prints of tuberculosis bacteria that are resistant to the commonly used anti-tubercular drugs.
Tuberculosis and HIV -- two of the world's deadliest infectious diseases -- are far worse when they occur together. Now researchers have pinpointed an important mechanism at work in this troubling health problem. And, their discovery could lead to a new mode of treatment for people at risk.
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for SIRTURO® (bedaquiline) tablets as part of combination therapy in pediatric patients – those over the age of 12 and younger than 18 and weighing at least 66 pounds (30 kilograms) – with pulmonary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), when an effective treatment regimen cannot otherwise be provided.