TB"
 
march 2004 : The number of tuberculosis patients treated every year has increased to 
more than three million, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The Direct Observation of Treatments (DOTS) scheme has been in place for 10 years and 
is used in 180 countries worldwide to fight tuberculosis.
Health workers ensure patients take their antibiotics properly - so avoiding the build-up
of drug resistance as well as curing more than 80% of cases. But the number of people who
die of tuberculosis is likely to increase as HIV drives the TB epidemic through Africa, 
Eastern Europe, India and China. So joint Aids and TB programmes need to be implemented 
to tackle both diseases simultaneously. 

Two billion people - one out of every three people on Earth - are infected with the TB
pathogen, a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Once in decline, the disease 
is now experiencing a resurgence, fuelled by the HIV/Aids epidemic. It is now the leading
killer of people infected with the virus, and has also become the single biggest killer 
in developing nations of women aged between 15 and 44.

A vaccine already exists - it is actually a family of vaccines called BCG (Bacille 
Calmette-Guerin) - but something more effective is needed in those countries where BCG 
is widely administered but the disease is still rampant. 
 
The two leading candidates are now in phase 1 clinical trials. The first is known as
rBCG30 and is an enhanced version of the BCG vaccine that has been genetically engineered 
to stimulate a stronger immune  response. 
 
The second, a "fusion protein", is a combination of two proteins from the TB pathogen that 
are primary targets of the immune system. The aim is to use both candidates together, to 
first prime the immune system and then boost it.  "This prime-boost approach has shown
remarkable protection,  primates, which has never been seen before," said Dr Sadoff. 
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references :
CDC
WHO
Multiple Drug Resistant Tb Treatment

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