tuberculosis - Haiti Observer Blog

Caribbean Biotechnologies Inc. (CBT), a Puerto Rican company has been given approval by the Haitian Ministry of Health to conduct clinical studies to test its new technology for the instantaneous detection of Tuberculosis in Haitian patients.

As per the company's claim, it uses a revolutionary technique, a patented method of optical detection, which instantly detects some of the airborne transmitted diseases like TB. The CBT will conduct its study from the fall 2015 in partnership with International Child Care's Grace Children's Hospital. As per USAID report, Haiti has the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) in the Americas. It is the country's greatest infectious cause of mortality in both youth and adults (6,814 deaths in 2007). However, it is estimated that nearly 40% of people with TB disease remain undiagnosed.

Read more →  

This year World Tuberculosis Day, acknowledged on March 24 each year, fell on a Monday, and plans to disseminate information on the disease hit the ground running. Part of the success of the venture was due to the aid the Haitian government received from the US in the Caribbean country, which routinely screens for TB within their President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program
.
TB is one of the leading causes of death among Haiti's children. It is an infection of the bacterial kind that spreads through the bloodstream and lymph nodes to various organs. Usually found in the lungs, it is easily spread through the air and untreated cases can result in exponential infections as one person may cause an additional 10 to 15 infections per year.

Read more →