tuberculosis (tb), the giant killer, may be effectively contained with the help of a microbe Mycobacterium vaccae, which is closely related to the bacterium that causes the disease. Researchers from the London-based company Stanford Rook Holdings (srh), have claimed that an injection of killed M vaccae, which is usually found in soil, increases the chances of recovery in tb patients. It is believed to strengthen the immune responses to M tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tb.

Tests conducted by srh researchers on 102 Romanian tb patients who did not respond to standard drug treatment, showed that 97 per cent of the 51 patients who received a single dose of killed M vaccae became free of disease after a year, compared to 70 per cent of the other 51 who received a placebo injection.

Other researchers are however cautious about the new therapy. "What we need is big controlled trials to see if (the therapy) really works," said Douglas Fearon, an immunologist at the University of Cambridge.