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Source: http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science...3#.UuFZDPZOmhc
TB trial fails to aid SA miners
January 23 2014 at 09:24am
By SAPA
Washington - What researchers described as a ?radical? bid to cut down on tuberculosis among South African gold miners has failed to prevent infections or deaths, said a study.
A high proportion - as many as three percent - of miners begin treatment for the contagious lung disease each year.
Tuberculosis spreads easily among miners due to the close quarters in which they work, and the epidemic has worsened along with the rise in HIV infections, according to the article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The clinical trial led by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine offered thousands of South African miners a preventive drug therapy called isoniazid over the course of nine months.
Previous research had shown the drug was effective at preventing latent tuberculosis infection from progressing to full-blown disease.
However, this trial showed that while the therapy did appear to prevent TB while the participants were taking it, the effects quickly wore off once they stopped...
TB trial fails to aid SA miners
January 23 2014 at 09:24am
By SAPA
Washington - What researchers described as a ?radical? bid to cut down on tuberculosis among South African gold miners has failed to prevent infections or deaths, said a study.
A high proportion - as many as three percent - of miners begin treatment for the contagious lung disease each year.
Tuberculosis spreads easily among miners due to the close quarters in which they work, and the epidemic has worsened along with the rise in HIV infections, according to the article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The clinical trial led by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine offered thousands of South African miners a preventive drug therapy called isoniazid over the course of nine months.
Previous research had shown the drug was effective at preventing latent tuberculosis infection from progressing to full-blown disease.
However, this trial showed that while the therapy did appear to prevent TB while the participants were taking it, the effects quickly wore off once they stopped...