Only 5-10% of individuals infected become sick or infectious
50 Million people are infected with multiple drug reistrant strains of TB
80% of U.S. cases are foreign born
Kaiser Health Disparities Report: A
Only 5-10% of individuals infected become sick or infectious
50 Million people are infected with multiple drug reistrant strains of TB
80% of U.S. cases are foreign born
Kaiser Health Disparities Report: A Weekly Look At Race, Ethnicity And Health
Immigrants arriving in the U.S. from Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Latin America have high rates of active or latent tuberculosis, highlighting a need for improved screening of the disease, according to a CDC study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Reuters reports (Stern, Reuters, 7/22) (continue story).
ISCT members attended the first Edinburg, Texas Regional Academic Health Center population genetics conference.
Gaining a better understanding of the role genetics plays in the development of diseases such as diabetes and obesity that affect American Indian, Mexican and Central American populations more than other groups was the topic of the first population genetics conference at the Regional Academic Health Center in Edinburg (continue story ).
(1) the initiation
of a multi-disciplinary
causes and diagnosis.
of a clearing
house on tuberculosis
of current investigations
web site. (3)
of an international
on several topics:
and rapid molecular
methods of diagnosis
of strains of
strain of the
the United States
of the interaction
of genetic factors
(in both host
as: work conditions,
and health care
Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest contagions in the world, and currently is spreading at a rapid rate. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that worldwide there are nine million new TB cases per year. Tuberculosis kills approximately 1.5 million people annually making it the second-most cause of death from infectious disease, only surpassed by HIV/AIDS. A total of 2 billion persons (i.e. 1 in 3 individuals worldwide) are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This health problem is further exacerbated by an increase in the rates of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) with 50 million persons infected with drug resistant strains—resulting in 110,000 deaths/year. In the United States, 80% of MDR-TB cases were among foreign-born, with almost 3,000 cases in 2005-6, coming across the Mexican border.
Recent tuberculosis re-emergence has brought attention to global public health by the reporting and estimating numbers of cases and deaths. As a result of socio-economical crisis in Russia in 1990s, the tuberculosis notification reached new heights, the case notification rates tripled when compared to the 1960s. In 2005, Russia has the eleventh highest tuberculosis burden in the world in terms of the total estimated number of new cases (2005). Participation and collaboration in programs, study of TB strains variation and recommendations based directly on new treatments, and strategies will help to reduce the tuberculosis burden and bring success to the treatment of TB in Russia.
This collaboration of various research institutions and universities on the genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis, will focus inter- and multi-disciplinary expertise on a highly significant health problem. The consortium (consisting of physicians, geneticists, biological and social anthropologists, microbiologists and epidemiologists), is examining the interaction of host genetics, strains of the Mycobacterium, and risk factors of the environment in Mexican, Siberian, Peruvian, Indian and African populations. This initial research will be followed by the mapping of specific genes involved in susceptibility in families and in association studies of SNPs in samples of individuals with clinical TB compared to controls. Technological developments in molecular genetics has provided us with unique tools for disentangling the gene-environment interactions of a complex disease—tuberculosis.