Researcher from AU and AUH receives substantial grant

[Translate to English:] Overlæge og ekstern lektor Ole Hilberg, Aarhus Universitet, Institut for Folkesundhed og Aarhus Universitetshospital, Lungemedicinsk Afdeling B.

18 June 2014 by Helle Horskjær Hansen

Tuberculosis is one of the world's major health problems, and one-third of the world's population is infected and has the disease latent in the body. A Danish research project will now develop new, sensitive technology to discover who is at risk of contracting tuberculosis.

The Danish InnovationsFonden is investing DKK three million in the development of the technology.

”We can treat tuberculosis with little difficulty. But we are not very good at identifying the disease carriers who will become ill with tuberculosis in the future. This is a really big limitation and it is here that this project can be revolutionary,” says Ole Hilberg.

Today it is possible to identify infected persons with the help of various immunological tests, but it is a major challenge to identify the small proportion who go on to develop active tuberculosis. In practice, the question of who will never become ill and who will develop active tuberculosis – and can therefore also pass on the disease – is impossible to predict.

It is estimated that 8.6 million people develop active tuberculosis every year and for 1.5 million of them the disease proves to be fatal.

Further information

Consultant, Part-Time Lecturer Ole Hilberg
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Pulmonary Medicine
Direct tel.: +45 7846 2091
OH@mil.au.dk