First rapid breath test for tuberculosis

Tuberculosis infects 8.6 million people each year worldwide and kills 1.3 million, second only to HIV, the World Health Organisation said last week. With the discovery of a rapid breath test, managing TB patients is expected to improve. US scientists report in the journal of Nature communications that for many years diagnosis of Tuberculosis’s relied on a lengthy wait that would take up to six weeks using standard methods for the bacteria to grow in a culture of the patient’s sputum. This new development was first tested on rabbits where the bacteria emit a unique gas signature within 10 minutes of exposure to an inhaled antibiotic. The test exploits the fact that this enzyme is unique to TB. The researchers gave a special molecularly-labelled form of isoniazid to laboratory rabbits. In the presence of TB, labelled nitrogen gas was released from the lungs and detected by a machine called a mass spectrometer. A positive result indicates that TB bugs are present and suggests they are susceptible to isoniazid. Although acute malnutrition has steadily been reducing over the years, stunted growth is still a major threat, standing at 44 per cent for children under five, according to the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey its is still way above the World Health Organisation’s target of 20 per cent. However, community-based health workers have continued to spread nutritional campaigns in several districts under the 1,000 days campaign that started in March. Last week, they reached out to residents of Gichumbi District in part of the three-year initiative seeking to improve feeding among children aged under five, pregnant and lactating mothers, as well as school going children, to reduce morbidity and mortality related to malnutrition. So far, more than 140 children have benefited from the campaign. The World Bank Group announced that it will nearly double its financing to $400 million to help the Ebola worst-hit countries address their emergency services and build stronger health systems. The Bank said $230 million will go toward emergency responses and $170 million for medium- and long-term health projects.