Tuberculosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Tuberculosis, including details on symptoms, causes, treatment, pulmonary, mycobacterium.

New drugs and vaccines for drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections.

Dover LG, Bhatt A, Bhowruth V, Willcox BE, Besra GS

Senior Lecturer, Biomolecular and Biomedical Research Centre, School of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK. lynn.dover@unn.ac.uk

Tuberculosis remains the most common cause of death due to a single infective organism. Despite the availability of a vaccine and chemotherapeutic options, the global disease burden remains relatively unaffected. The ability of the mycobacterial etiological agents to adopt a semidormant, phenotypically drug-resistant state requires that chemotherapy is both complex and lengthy. The emergence of drug resistance has raised the possibility of virtually untreatable tuberculosis. Furthermore, the currently used bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine has had mixed success in protecting susceptible populations. Given this backdrop, the need for novel anti-infectives and more effective vaccines is clearly evident. Recent progress, described herein, has seen the development and entry into clinical trials of several new drugs and vaccine candidates.

Published 30 April 2008 in Expert Rev Vaccines, 7(4): 481-97.
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