Drug-resistent TB spreading more easily

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   http://www.nature.com/news/russia-s-drug-resistant-tb-spreading-more-easily-1.14589 
Newly discovered mutations help tuberculosis to stay infectious while evolving resistance to multiple drugs.

Antibiotics block essential functions in bacteria, such as making proteins or building cell walls. Mutations in the genes involved in these duties can lead to antibiotic resistance, but they also tend to make bacteria divide more slowly. But laboratory experiments have shown that bacteria can develop compensatory mutations that restore the pathogen's ability to divide quickly. Drobniewski’s team found such mutations in more than 400 isolates that were resistant to the first-line antibiotic rifampicin, and the authors suggest that the mutations might overcome the growth-slowing effect of evolving resistance.
“The worst scenario is that the organisms are developing resistance, compensating for it, and evolving into something that’s new and different, that’s much less treatable,” says Megan Murray, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. In a 2013 study², her team found both widespread drug resistance and compensatory mutations in their analysis of 123 TB genomes from around the world.

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Dutch Josh Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Adviser Group Joined: May 01 2013 Location: Arnhem-Netherla Status: Offline Points: 95867	Post Options Post Reply Quote Dutch Josh Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Drug-resistent TB spreading more easily Posted: January 28 2014 at 12:31pm
	http://www.nature.com/news/russia-s-drug-resistant-tb-spreading-more-easily-1.14589 Newly discovered mutations help tuberculosis to stay infectious while evolving resistance to multiple drugs. Antibiotics block essential functions in bacteria, such as making proteins or building cell walls. Mutations in the genes involved in these duties can lead to antibiotic resistance, but they also tend to make bacteria divide more slowly. But laboratory experiments have shown that bacteria can develop compensatory mutations that restore the pathogen's ability to divide quickly. Drobniewski’s team found such mutations in more than 400 isolates that were resistant to the first-line antibiotic rifampicin, and the authors suggest that the mutations might overcome the growth-slowing effect of evolving resistance. “The worst scenario is that the organisms are developing resistance, compensating for it, and evolving into something that’s new and different, that’s much less treatable,” says Megan Murray, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. In a 2013 study², her team found both widespread drug resistance and compensatory mutations in their analysis of 123 TB genomes from around the world.
	We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein

Dutch Josh Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Adviser Group Joined: May 01 2013 Location: Arnhem-Netherla Status: Offline Points: 95867	Post Options Post Reply Quote Dutch Josh Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: January 28 2014 at 12:35pm
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis TB is widespread allover the world. A number of factors make people more susceptible to TB infections. The most important risk factor globally is HIV; 13% of all people with TB are infected by the virus.^[6] This is a particular problem in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates of HIV are high.^[33]^[34] Of people without HIV who are infected with tuberculosis, about 5–10% develop active disease during their lifetimes;^[10] in contrast, 30% of those coinfected with HIV develop the active disease.^[10] Tuberculosis is closely linked to both overcrowding and malnutrition, making it one of the principal diseases of poverty.^[7] Those at high risk thus include: people who inject illicit drugs, inhabitants and employees of locales where vulnerable people gather (e.g. prisons and homeless shelters), medically underprivileged and resource-poor communities, high-risk ethnic minorities, children in close contact with high-risk category patients, and health care providers serving these patients.^[35] Chronic lung disease is another significant risk factor. Silicosis increases the risk about 30-fold.^[36] Those who smoke cigarettes have nearly twice the risk of TB than nonsmokers.^[37] Other disease states can also increase the risk of developing tuberculosis. These include alcoholism^[7] and diabetes mellitus (threefold increase).^[38] Certain medications, such as corticosteroids and infliximab (an anti-αTNF monoclonal antibody) are becoming increasingly important risk factors, especially in the developed world.^[7] There is also a genetic susceptibility,^[39] for which overall importance remains undefined. ^[7] Also visit www.labrows.com www.losangelesbrows.com www.losangelesfacial.com www.losangeleseyebrowshaping.com www.losangeleseyebrows.com