An international team of researchers has developed an algorithm that can be used to predict the chances of a person with a latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection developing tuberculosis (TB). In their paper published in the journal Nature Medicine, the group describes surveying thousands of people from multiple countries to amass data on TB patients and using what they learned to create their algorithm.
TB is caused by a bacterial infection. It infects the lungs primarily, but can also infect other parts of the body. The TB bacteria also tend to remain dormant in most people after infection, sometimes for many years. Some of those people never experience symptoms; others, however, develop TB. And unlike stories from the past, people today can be cured with antibiotics. Ridding the world of TB has proven to be difficult because many people with asymptomatic infections are still able to spread the disease. The WHO estimates that up to 25% of people worldwide are infected at any given time.
