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December 2011 No.12 NEWSLETTER OF FEMS

FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN MICROBIOLOGICAL SOCIETIES

Taking TB to the Frontline To enlighten us on the issue of tuberculosis (TB), FEMS interviewed Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the Stop TB Department of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Stop TB Department helps countries implement the WHO Stop TB Strategy, which intends to “dramatically reduce the burden of TB and halve TB deaths and prevalence by 2015”. Dr Raviglione is positive that this can be achieved.

What are the highlights of the 2011 Global TB Report? Dr Mario Raviglione: There are several highlights in this report. First of all, the report shows that the incidence of tuberculosis continues to decline although very slowly, 1% per year. Importantly also, the TB incidence rate per capita as well as the absolute numbers of cases are coming down. That is a very positive message. Moreover, revised estimates of mortality show less than what we thought until a year ago with a total of 1.4 million deaths estimated in 2010. This number has decreased from the 1.7 million of the year before because

Photomicrograph of a sputum sample containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis bacteria can attack any part of the body, but usually the lungs causing Tuberculosis. It is spread when infected individuals cough or sneeze, releasing microdroplets into the air that contain the bacteria, which others then inhale. Source: CDC

we have better data from a number of countries worldwide showing that indeed the deaths are less than previously estimated. At the same time, it is important to note that the trend on mortality rates suggests that the target that was set a decade ago - of reducing the

From the Editorial Team The epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the greatest global challenges to medicine and public health. It affects 8.8 million people every year with up to 1.5 million deaths. While not only the underprivileged gets TB, most victims do belong to this group that the illness is considered as the affliction of the poor. And rightly so, the World Health Organization’s Global TB Report 2011 pointed to 22 countries from the developing world with the highest rate of TB. The control and ultimate elimination of this disease still rests on prompt diagnosis and therapeutic intervention to reduce ongoing transmission. The need to improve efficiency in TB Diagnostics directly in clinical material on location, in outpatient clinics and at bedside, by reducing time and expense has increased the need for rapid point-of-care testing. This issue of the FEMS Focus will review the magnitude of the TB epidemic, new technologies and trends for TB diagnostics and highlight the suitability for applications in practice. Tone Tonjum & Chared Verschuur-Ballo, Editors

number of deaths in the world by half - will be achieved globally, and in all regions of the world with the exception of Africa. This is good news. Bad news is that the incidence is coming down far too slowly to foresee any elimination in the near future.


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