Every pound of a child at birth lowers risk of TB

January 8, 2010 – IR Summary /IANS/Hindu

In a new study, Villamor worked with colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and made a research work at Havard how babies get TB when they grow up. The report of the University of Michigan (U-M) researchers looked at how much protection additional birth weight adds against developing TB years later.

The report states that more a newborn weighs, the better its chances of being protected from tuberculosis (TB), every pound decreases the risk of developing the disease later in life.

They found that every 1.1 pound of birth weight decreases the risk of developing TB later by 46 percent among identical twins.

The findings are important because TB infects about a third of the planet’s population, and is second only to HIV in deaths caused by a single infection.
The link between birth weight and developing TB is much stronger for males than females, who are only about 16 percent less likely to develop TB for every 1.1 pound (500 grams) of birth weight, said Eduardo Villamor, study author. More