Multidrug‐Resistant and Extensively Drug‐Resistant Tuberculosis: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Agenda and Recommendations for Priority Research

Globally tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death due to an infectious disease second only to HIV/AIDS. Estimates suggest that approximately one-third of the worlds population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis the microbe that causes TB and approximately 10% of infected individuals will develop active TB at some point in their lives. For individuals also infected with HIV the likelihood of developing active TB after infection is much higher. In 2006 approximately 9.2 million people globally developed active TB and it is estimated that 1.7 million people died as a result of TB including 2 HIV-infected individuals. Although estimates suggest that the rates of new cases and deaths due to TB show signs of slowing throughout the world recent increases in rates of drug-resistant TB have the potential to reverse these gains. (excerpt)