New TB compounds found

New compounds have been found in TB that could help to prevent the disease's mechanism for remaining dormant in infected cells.

Researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical College have managed to identify the key compounds without damaging the human cells.

This could lead to new treatments being developed that can stop TB while it is in the dormant stage of its life cycle.

Dr Carl Nathan, senior author and chairman of the department of microbiology and immunology at the college, said that this represents a "new approach" for fighting TB.

"This is important because we are running out of effective antibiotics that are currently available," he wrote in the journal Nature.

"There are few drugs that successfully combat TB in its dormant stage, which makes the bacterium so resilient in the body."

Around one in three people worldwide are affected by the bacterium that causes TB, but most cases are kept dormant by immune cells.

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