New research co-funded by the British Lung Foundation has found that many tuberculosis bacteria shield themselves in protective fat, which may keep them safe as they pass from person to person.
The discovery by researchers at the University of Leicester and St Georges, University of London, may explain why TB patients require a long course of treatment before they cease to pose an infection risk to others and may eventually lead to new treatments for the disease, which currently requires a six-month course of antibiotics. It may also shed light on why efforts to combat TB, are increasingly being undermined by drug resistance.
Dr John Moore-Gillon, Vice President of the Foundation said, "This research co-funded by the British Lung Foundation helps us understand just why the TB bug is an extremely tough cookie built to survive. It adds to our knowledge of why TB bacteria are so difficult to eradicate from the body and why drug resistant strains such as XDR-TB develop. This research may pave the way for new types of drugs that could stop TB in its tracks."
The study appears in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
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