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X-ray of human lungs, showing a tuberculosis infection
Image: GARO/PHANIE/picture alliance Image: GARO/PHANIE/picture alliance

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that affects the lungs. It spreads through the air via coughs, sneezes and saliva. With annual infection rates about 10 million, health experts say we face a 'TB epidemic'.

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All Content on this topic

A person points to an X-ray of a person's lung, infected with tuberculosis

Post-tuberculosis lung disease: A patient's story

Global TB infections are rising. Some TB is drug-resistant. Patients are suffering lung damage long after they're cured.
ScienceMay 2, 2024
White hands holding a dozen or so pills of different shapes and colors

Antibiotic resistance: When UTIs turn lethal

Due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, some diseases we've been able to treat easily might become life-threatening again.
HealthNovember 19, 2023
Chest x-ray showing tuberculosis, a contagious bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis: First time infections rise to 30-year high

The infectious lung disease TB was the top two global killer in 2022 after COVID. The highest rates were in South Asia.
ScienceNovember 10, 2023
DW Podcast | Science Unscripted

Why did it take so long to say 'airborne'?

Denying COVID was "airborne" will likely go down as one of the worst public health mistakes ever made. How'd it happen?
ScienceSeptember 8, 202230:00 min
Men carry large bags on the migration route from Venezuela

How stigmas impact refugee, migrant health

People who migrate or flee their home countries experience major health barriers, a new WHO report shows.
HealthJuly 22, 2022
A patient receiving pills against tuberculosis

Prioritizing COVID sets back years of TB progress

About 1.4 million fewer people received care for tuberculosis in 2020 than in 2019. TB kills 1.5 million people a year.
HealthJune 21, 2021
DW Podcast | Science Unscripted

Why are Africa's coronavirus numbers so low?

African countries seem to be experiencing lower levels of COVID-19 infections (and fatalities). The question is — why?
ScienceSeptember 7, 202010:59 min
DW Podcast | Science Unscripted

Indirect victims

Stay safe by being informed. Broadcast from Germany every day in under five minutes.
ScienceJune 5, 202004:53 min
A doctor preparing a TB vaccine for babies in Kayanza, Burundi

Don't ignore other diseases during COVID-19

In times of corona, the fight against classic diseases, like measles, TB, HIV and malaria, risks falling behind.
ScienceMay 13, 2020
A child receiving a vaccine in Germany

A tuberculosis vaccine against COVID-19?

VPM1002 is the name of a new tuberculosis vaccine that could help control the novel coronavirus.
ScienceMay 11, 2020
A woman in Indian Kashmir holds her TB medicine in a hand, a cup and mobile phone in the other

Open source: Stop the rot in drug discovery

There's something rotten in the state of pharma. And there's no easy fix. But "open source pharma" may be a start.
ScienceOctober 12, 2018
Erkältung - Krank auf der Couch liegen

In Good Shape – Infectious diseases

How dangerous are flu viruses and tuberculosis bacteria? A talk with infectiologist Dr. Thomas Grünewald.
ScienceMarch 23, 201826:00 min
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Tuberculosis – on the rise again?

Tuberculosis, or TB, is considered to be the deadliest infectious disease worldwide.
ScienceMarch 21, 201804:32 min
Projekt Zukunft vom 18.03.2018 Stefan Kaufmann

Interview with Stefan Kaufmann

What makes the fight against TB so challenging?
ScienceMarch 16, 201804:02 min
Projekt Zukunft vom 18.03.2018 Ukraine

Tuberculosis in Ukraine

Over 25 percent of tuberculosis cases in Ukraine are multi-drug resistant.
ScienceMarch 16, 201804:29 min
Lungenfacharzt Dr. Torsten Bauer

Diagnosing tuberculosis

Dr. Carsten Lekutat talks to lung specialist Dr. Torsten Bauer about the transmission of the tuberculosis bacteria.
ScienceNovember 17, 201603:59 min
BdT TBC in Deutschland

Tackling tuberculosis

Treating TB is a lengthy procedure that takes a toll of the body and the spirit.
ScienceNovember 17, 201604:02 min
Lungenfacharzt Dr. Torsten Bauer

The battle against TB

Our host Dr. Carsten Lekutat talks to lung specialist Dr. Torsten Bauer.
ScienceNovember 17, 201604:00 min
Neue Antibiotika-Klasse entdeckt

Multidrug resistant tuberculosis

Fewer medications help against tuberculosis. The bacteria are growing increasingly resistant.
ScienceNovember 17, 201603:16 min
Bacteria

Why hospital infections top HIV, flu and TB

If you're in hospital, take very good care. A study suggests you're more at risk from a hospital infection than flu.
ScienceOctober 18, 2016
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Diagnosing tuberculosis

Our host Dr. Carsten Lekutat talks to lung specialist Dr. Torsten Bauer.
ScienceMarch 17, 201604:12 min

TB sniffing rats in Tanzania

Tuberculosis is a highly infectious lung disease that kills more than 1.7 million people every year, many of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania, rats are being used to detect the disease - they're faster and more accurate that lab tests.
ScienceJune 23, 201407:33 min

Is profit more important than public health?

With the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, many have wondered why there's no vaccine. We still need vaccines for TB, HIV and Malaria too. Professor Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute, tells us how drug companies weigh up profit and public health.
ScienceMarch 31, 201407:33 min

Tuberculosis - research collaboration to target a killer disease

German and South African scientists are collaborating in Durban to find new ways of fighting tuberculosis, or TB. For the past 20 years the number of cases of TB has been on the rise, in part because conventional antibiotic treatment has become less and less effective.
ScienceSeptember 2, 201304:15 min

Tuberculosis - research collaboration to target a killer disease

German and South African scientists are collaborating in Durban to find new ways of fighting tuberculosis, or TB. For the past 20 years the number of cases of TB has been on the rise, in part because conventional antibiotic treatment has become less and less effective.
ScienceFebruary 4, 201304:08 min