Antifungal Drug Kills Tuberculosis Bug

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_http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070312111320.htm_

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070312111320.htm)

Source: University of Manchester Date: March 12, 2007

Antifungal Drug Kills Tuberculosis Bug

_Science Daily_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/) — Scientists hoping to find

new treatments for one of the world's most deadly infectious diseases say

drugs used to treat common fungal infections may provide the

answer.Tuberculosis, or TB, is a highly contagious disease of the lungs that was

thought to have

been virtually eliminated by the 1960s, but is now resurgent and kills

nearly two million people worldwide every year. New infections are occurring at

a

rate of one per second.

Of equal concern is the dramatic rise in the incidence of new strains of TB

that are resistant to traditional antibiotics. As a result, the World Health

Organisation, the Bill Gates Foundation and the European Union have all

launched initiatives to tackle the problem.

Now, biologists at The University of Manchester have shown that chemicals

called azoles -- the active agent in many antifungal drugs -- kill the TB

bacteria, and could be effective in tackling the emerging drug-resistant

strains......

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