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Scanning electron micrograph of the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for tuberculosis. Credit: NIAID
Thousands of scientists, activists and survivors of the disease closed a global conference on respiratory health Saturday, dominated by the announcement of several advances in the fight against tuberculosis.
Below you will find an overview of the progress made by doctors and humanitarian workers in the fight against the world's deadliest infectious diseases.
Miracle drug
Some strains of TB – a serious lung infection that can spread to the brain – are resistant to antibiotics and have always been extremely difficult and painful to treat.
Several countries, including South Africa, where the incidence of tuberculosis is one of the heaviest in the world, have announced that a new drug has given amazing results against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
Bedaquiline, which has treated 80% of patients in countries such as Belarus, has been hailed by experts as a "game changer" and can replace months of atrocious and often ineffective injections for patients.
First vaccine for 100 years
In terms of prevention, a new TB vaccine, the first in nearly a century, has made significant progress.
GlaxoSmithKline has shown in a trial conducted in three African countries that its vaccine had an efficacy of 54% in subjects already suffering from TB but who have not yet done so.
"Such a level of effectiveness could actually have an impact on global health," said Marie-Ange Demoitie, vaccine development manager at GSK.
New test for children
In a last-minute announcement, scientists at the conference unveiled a revolutionary new method of screening for TB in children.
According to them, the new technique, which involves analyzing stool samples of infants, will prevent hundreds of thousands of people from contracting the disease each year.
The only current means of controlling TB in a child involves a painful procedure and usually a night at the hospital, making it inaccessible to many people in rural areas.
Every day, 650 children with TB die, the vast majority of whom never receive treatment.
Targeted treatment
An innovative approach to reach children at risk has been a remarkable success in four African countries.
The International Union for Tuberculosis and Lung Disease conducted a study on children under five living in a household with at least one adult diagnosed with the disease.
Those who did not have active TB – the bacteria is latent in about a quarter of humans – received preventive treatment for three months, half the length of current treatment.
Out of nearly 2,000 children enrolled, 92% of those treated successfully completed the course.
Lung health
The World Health Organization will hold its first global summit on air pollution and health next week in Geneva.
Scientists in The Hague have urged governments to consider air pollution as a public health emergency: 90% of the world's population breathe polluted air.
"Six million people die every year because of poor air quality," said Neil Schluger, senior adviser for science at Vital Strategies, who is preparing a new global plan to tackle the problem .
"Yet, too many governments fail to solve this problem as a public health crisis.Every day clinicians see the ravages of air pollution – people with acute asthma, heart attacks, and Brain attacks, etc., "said Schluger.
"We need to mobilize because the problem is getting worse and it is urgent to act".
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