Tuberculosis. Future perspectives

Tuberculosis remains a major health problem around the world and its incidence is growing 0.4% each year. There are 2 billions of infected, 8.4 millions new cases every year and 16 million patients. The association of VIH and tuberculosis, the increasing number of multidrug resistance, failure of health systems, greater mobility of people, poverty, wars and social exclusion, are the major causes of the epidemiological situation. Faster, more specific and sensible diagnostic methods are being investigated. Some of them use molecular biology techniques, some uses radioisotopes and some others are based on colour and fluorescence modifications of dyes. New drugs, new routes of administration and ways for increasing compliance are under investigation. More potent drugs, with greater biodisponibility and adequate pharmacokinetics for shorter treatments for multidrug and latent forms of bacilli are needed. New vaccines are under investigations, namely Adjuvant Subunits Vaccines, DNA Vaccines DNA, no micobacterianos vectors, and attenuated living vaccines are being tested. Finally some considerations are made concerning the need of global committement to win the fight against tuberculosis in the near future.