Tuberculosis is raging in countries with high HIV infection rates, and a group of Johns Hopkins-led physicians are testing treatments to prevent the deadly disease.
Now, the international group of more than 250 researchers called the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic (CREATE), got a $32 million boost for their efforts from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Hopkins announced this week.
The grant supplements the $44.7 million the Gates Foundation donated in 2004 to start the initiative.
CREATE is testing the use of antibiotic therapy to prevent active TB disease in people also infected with HIV in South Africa, Brazil and Zambia.
Worldwide, 9 million new cases of TB are diagnosed each year, and more than 1.5 million people die from the disease, officials said.
Dr. Richard Chaisson, a Johns Hopkins infectious disease specialist who leads CREATE, said the money comes “just as our team’s research is making serious progress.”
“Because HIV weakens the immune system, people with HIV are especially vulnerable to TB, and TB rates have increased
significantly in countries with high HIV prevalence,” he said in a statement.
“We are testing simple interventions at the community level that can reverse these deadly trends.”
