Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection caused by a germ called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or talks. If you think you have been exposed, you should go to your doctor for tests as soon as possible. You are more likely to get TB if you have a weak immune system.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB), continues to be a major infectious threat to global public health.
More than 10,000 different Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria isolated from 23 different countries were subjected to a thorough investigation, which uncovered new genes linked to resistance to 13 first- and second-line novel and repurposed medicines.
According to a study published today in eLife, scientists found how the bacterium that induces tuberculosis (TB) could quickly adapt in response to new environments.
Chalmers University of Technology researchers have devised a method for detecting certain bacterial genes that encode resistance using conventional microscopes, which are already used to diagnose TB in low-income countries.
Every year, 1.5 million people die from infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Antibiotics are available to treat tuberculosis, but the bacteria has evolved multi-drug resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and fully drug-resistant (TDR) strains in recent years.
Tuberculosis is a stubborn disease caused by even more stubborn bacteria. While many bacterial infections clear up within days of taking antibiotics, TB can take up to six months to clear up and, in some cases, never leave the human body. In 2020, it claimed 1.5 million lives, second only to COVID-19 in terms of infectious disease deaths.
A study released this week in Scientific Reports presents the first effectively sequenced human genome from a person who perished in Pompeii, Italy, after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. Only limited lengths of mitochondrial DNA from human and animal remains from Pompeii had previously been sequenced.
Many people believe tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of the past. Nonetheless, it claims over a million lives each year. Furthermore, the problem is escalating as Mycobacterium tuberculosis—the pathogen that causes tuberculosis develops resistance to the antibiotics used to treat the disease.
Two strains of the bacterium causing tuberculosis have only minor genetic differences but attack the lungs in completely different fashion, according to Rutgers researchers.
Most antibiotics are double-edged swords. Besides killing the pathogen they are prescribed for, they also decimate beneficial bacteria and change the composition of the gut microbiome.
A study team developed an early-stage therapy that sabotages the pump and restores antibiotic efficiency by disclosing the structure of a protein needed by bacteria to pump out antibiotics.
In the current study, scientists at Baylor College of Medicine identified that the cells of humans and animals that recovered from tuberculosis had prematurely aged up to 12 to 14 years.
Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute report this week in the Journal of Immunology.
Tuberculosis is the second most common cause of death worldwide by an infectious pathogen after Covid-19, but many aspects of its long history with humans remain controversial.
Genetic mutations help certain people succeed in the face of natural selection.
A*STAR’s GIS and ID Labs have discovered KCNJ15, a gene linked to the human immune system’s ability to combat TB and maybe other infectious diseases.
A signaling mechanism that enables bacteria like Salmonella to escape destruction by the immune system of the host was discovered by scientists.
In the war against cancer, the first step towards treating them is an accurate diagnosis of the problem. A technique that helps plan a better course of treatment is a biopsy.
Oxygen and sugar are the basis of life for animals, plants, fungi and many bacteria. The metabolic process called respiration makes it possible to convert food into energy for the cells.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Umeå University, and the University of Bonn have identified a new group of molecules that have an antibacterial effect against many antibiotic-resistant bacteria.