Monday 3 December 2012 11:48am
Professor Philip Hill, who has an extensive record in TB research in developing countries, will be part of a multi-disciplinary consortium exploring the link between TB and diabetes.
"This year nine million people will be diagnosed with TB and up to 1.4 million will die from it. We also know that just under 400 million people live with diabetes and around 10 - 20% of new cases of TB are also diabetic, which is a much higher percentage than you would expect by chance," Professor Hill says.
"There are more TB cases with diabetes than there are with HIV and while diabetes doesn't have as dramatic an effect on TB as HIV does, it is clearly a significant player - presumably through an effect on the immune system."
"The fact that the number of people worldwide with diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate will have an effect on global TB control."
Professor Hill, who was part of the team that designed the study, says the consortium wants to test the hypothesis that screening and management can be greatly improved and simplified with a major impact on the control of TB and diabetes co-morbidity.
Read the complete article:
Otago researchers in major new study of TB and diabetes epidemics 3 December 2012, University of Otago website
