Local researchers hope to end TB re-infection if a new TB vaccine candidate is successful. It was proven to be safe and induced an immune response in patients.

Young tuberculosis patients – including those co-infected with HIV, recently hospitalised and those with lower CD4 counts – are likely to default on TB treatment or miss their appointments, resulting in poor health outcome, a new study has suggested.

Cape Town - Phumeza Tisile, of Khayelitsha, was 19 when she was diagnosed with drug resistant tuberculosis - a disease that would later leave her with permanent hearing loss.

Cape Town - Patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis could soon have access to a promising new drug – Bedaquiline – as the Medicines Control Council (MCC) is “fast-tracking” its authorisation processes to have the drug licensed.

Cape Town - Traditional healers seem to be popular among tuberculosis sufferers, with almost half of all TB patients consulting them before getting diagnosed at clinics or hospitals.

Cape Town - Patients with extreme drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis are being sent home while still infectious because there are not enough beds in TB hospitals and there is a scarcity of community-based palliative care centres.

Cape Town - Local tuberculosis experts are optimistic that a novel TB antibiotic, which is being tested on multidrug-resistant TB sufferers in a Cape Town hospital, could revolutionise treatment of the killer disease.

Cape Town - South Africa has been included in a list of the worst 12 countries when it comes to the burden of tuberculosis, behind countries such as Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Cape Town - Once upon a time, being HIV-positive in South Africa was like a death sentence, with no adequate treatment available and a huge stigma attached to the disease.