The Hindu
31 January
Recurrence of TB after successful drug treatment is a recognised challenge in tuberculosis control. Recurrence can happen as a result of reinfection, or, as scientists at Stanford University have established, through reactivation of dormant TB bacteria ‘hiding’ in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.
The remarkable study published in the Science Translational Medicine journal has demonstrated that bone marrow stem cells provide a safe shelter for dormant TB bacteria, even after successful TB treatment. The bacteria are present in a nonreplicating, dormant but viable state, and can get reactivated to cause active TB.
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