Only 5-10% of individuals infected become sick or infectious
50 Million people are infected with multiple drug reistrant strains of TB
80% of U.S. cases are foreign born
Kaiser Health Disparities Report: A Weekly Look At Race, Ethnicity And Health
Immigrants arriving in the U.S. from Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Latin America have high rates of active or latent tuberculosis, highlighting a need for improved screening of the disease, according to a CDC study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Reuters reports (Stern, Reuters, 7/22) (continue story).
ISCT members attended the first Edinburg, Texas Regional Academic Health Center population genetics conference.
Gaining a better understanding of the role genetics plays in the development of diseases such as diabetes and obesity that affect American Indian, Mexican and Central American populations more than other groups was the topic of the first population genetics conference at the Regional Academic Health Center in Edinburg (continue story ).
Researchers
from several
universities,
research institutes
and State Public
Health agencies
(University
of Arizona,
Kansas,
Southwest
Foundation for
Biomedical Research,
San Antonio,
Texas,
and State
of Texas Department
of Health El
Paso) met
November 10th,
2005 in Tucson,
Arizona to discuss
potential research
collaboration.
The discussions
were focused
on the genetic
susceptibility
to tuberculosis
in indigenous
populations
of Mexico and
the effects
of infected
migrants crossing
the U.S. border.
This group reached
agreement on
several points:
(1) to establish
an international
consortium for
the study of tuberculosis;
(2) to locate
the headquarters
of this consortium
at the University
of Kansas,
under the directorship
of Dr.
Michael H. Crawford;
(3) to develop
a pilot study
on the genetic
susceptibility
of Tarahumara
and Mestizo
populations
of the State
of Chihuahua,
Mexico; (4)
to meet with
state and federal
officials from
Chihuahua and
Mexico City
to develop a
Mexican consortium
and work out
the details
for a long-term
research collaboration.
During the first
of three meetings
in Chihuahua,
officials from
Servicios de
Salud de Chihuahua,
Instituto
Chihuahuense
de la Salud
del Gobierno
del Estado de
Chihuahua,
Hospital Infanti,
Facultad de
Enfermeria y
Nutriologia
de la Universidad
Autonoma de
Chihuahua,
Instituto Mexicano
del Segura Social
and Escuela
Nacional de
Antropologia
e Historia met
and signed a
memorandum of
agreement (MOA)
between the
two respective
consortia (ICST
and CIMBT).
Since
the two groups
entered into
the MOU, additional
researchers
and institutions
have into agreement
with ICST.
Additional collaborators
include: Dr.
Larissa Tarskaia
(Institute of
Medical Genetics,
Moscow), Dr.
Antonio Arnaiz
Villena (Compultense
University of
Madrid), Dr.
Kim Kimminau
(Department
of Family Medicine,
Kansas University
Medical Center),
Phil Griffin
(Kansas
Department of
Health and Environment,
Tuberculosis
Control Program ),
and University
of Texas-El
Paso.
The
purposes of
this consortium
(ICST) include:
(1) the initiation
of a multi-disciplinary
research program
on tuberculosis,
its distribution,
causes and diagnosis.
(2) establishment
of a clearing
house on tuberculosis
research, making
the results
of current investigations
available through
an internet
web site. (3)
coordination
of an international
and multi-disciplinary
research program
on several topics:
the development
of inexpensive,
and rapid molecular
methods of diagnosis
of strains of
the Mycobacterium;
identification
of specific
strain of the
bacterium entering
the United States
in undocumented
workers; and
examination
of the interaction
of genetic factors
(in both host
and organism)
with environmental
factors, such
as: work conditions,
housing, nutritional
intake,
and smoking
habits. (4)
organization
of international
symposia and
workshops to
educate researchers
and health care
workers
Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest contagions in the world, and currently is spreading at a rapid rate. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that worldwide there are nine million new TB cases per year. Tuberculosis kills approximately 1.5 million people annually making it the second-most cause of death from infectious disease, only surpassed by HIV/AIDS. A total of 2 billion persons (i.e. 1 in 3 individuals worldwide) are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This health problem is further exacerbated by an increase in the rates of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) with 50 million persons infected with drug resistant strains—resulting in 110,000 deaths/year. In the United States, 80% of MDR-TB cases were among foreign-born, with almost 3,000 cases in 2005-6, coming across the Mexican border.
Recent tuberculosis re-emergence has brought attention to global public health by the reporting and estimating numbers of cases and deaths. As a result of socio-economical crisis in Russia in 1990s, the tuberculosis notification reached new heights, the case notification rates tripled when compared to the 1960s. In 2005, Russia has the eleventh highest tuberculosis burden in the world in terms of the total estimated number of new cases (2005). Participation and collaboration in programs, study of TB strains variation and recommendations based directly on new treatments, and strategies will help to reduce the tuberculosis burden and bring success to the treatment of TB in Russia.
This collaboration of various research institutions and universities on the genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis, will focus inter- and multi-disciplinary expertise on a highly significant health problem. The consortium (consisting of physicians, geneticists, biological and social anthropologists, microbiologists and epidemiologists), is examining the interaction of host genetics, strains of the Mycobacterium, and risk factors of the environment in Mexican, Siberian, Peruvian, Indian and African populations. This initial research will be followed by the mapping of specific genes involved in susceptibility in families and in association studies of SNPs in samples of individuals with clinical TB compared to controls. Technological developments in molecular genetics has provided us with unique tools for disentangling the gene-environment interactions of a complex disease—tuberculosis.
