Tuberculosis continues to threaten the world nearly 200 years later. About 2 billion people, one-third of the world's population, have been exposed to the TB bacterium, according to the World Health Organization. In 2005, 1.6 million people died and another 8.8 million were diagnosed with the disease.
(Media-Newswire.com) - English physician and poet John Keats wrote these words three years before his death from tuberculosis in 1821 at the age of 25.
Tuberculosis continues to threaten the world nearly 200 years later. About 2 billion people, one-third of the world's population, have been exposed to the TB bacterium, according to the World Health Organization. In 2005, 1.6 million people died and another 8.8 million were diagnosed with the disease.
The World Health Organization recently marked World TB Day with the kick off of a two-year campaign "I Am Stopping TB." The campaign challenges people everywhere to stop the spread of tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis infection can occur in any organ of the body, but it is predominantly a disease of the lungs characterized by fever, weight loss and night sweats. The spread of TB is airborne, primarily through microscopic droplets released when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks.
Indiana is not untouched by this killer disease. The state suffered seven deaths associated with tuberculosis in 2007 and 913 cases during the prior six years.
Citizens and visitors to underdeveloped countries are at a greater risk for tuberculosis. For example, the annual incidence rates were about 356 per 100,000 people in Africa versus about 4.4 per 100,000 individuals in the United States in 2007. In 2005, Swaziland had the highest estimated incidence at 1,262 cases per 100,000 people. With more than 1.8 million cases, India has the largest number of infections.
It is heartening that tuberculosis infections are not increasing globally. However, the incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, commonly called MDR-TB, is on the rise. The World Health Organization defines MDR-TB as a form of tuberculosis that survives treatment with the primary antibiotics used to treat tuberculosis.
The World Health Organization reports that there are nearly 500,000 new cases of MDR-TB each year. In Baku, Azerbaijan, for example, drug resistant strains are responsible for as many 20 percent of all new cases. In 2006, the United States experienced 111 new cases of MDR-TB and three cases of the more dangerous extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis, according to the CDC.
The arsenal of antibiotics effective against tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has been shrinking, and the threat to public health continues.
One of the few effective drugs is manufactured in West Lafayette.
Ownership of Seromycin® ( d-cycloserine ), an antibiotic approved for the treatment of MDR-TB, was transferred from Eli Lilly and Co. to the Chao Center for Industrial Pharmacy & Contract Manufacturing in December. The Chao Center is owned by the Purdue Research Foundation. It was founded by Purdue alumni Allen and Lee Hwa Chao, who envisioned a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility to train students in current Good Manufacturing Practices ( cGMP ). The Chao Center is the sole source of Seromycin® in Canada and the United States.
Antibiotics alone will not save us, however.
That's why partnerships such as the $135 million Lilly MDR-TB partnership with 12 other organizations on five continents and in more than 50 countries are so important. The Lilly partnership, called "Transfer of Hope," was created in 2003 to help contain and ultimately conquer multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The Chao Center is one of the manufacturing partners. Purdue University and Lilly are providing technical training to other partners involved in manufacturing the medicines.
Other global partners in this project are: Aspen Pharmacies, South Africa; International Council of Nurses ( ICN ); International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies ( IFRC ); International Hospital Federation ( IHF ); Harvard Medical School and Partners in Health ( PIH ); Hisun Pharmaceuticals, China; Shasun Chemicals and Drugs, India; SIA International, Russia; TB Alert and TB Survival Project; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; World Economic Forum ( WEF ); World Health Organization and Stop TB Partnership; and the World Medical Association.
While we have made great strides to combat this devastating disease, it will require continued vigilance by all of us to end the burden that tuberculosis places on the world.
Kissinger is legacy products coordinator for the Chao Center in West Lafayette and Burkholder is director of the tuberculosis program for Indiana State Department of Health
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