It was seen lately that Scientists had found a group of gene variants that increased the risk of infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria. It was also said that the discovery could lead to designing of new drugs that could take care of several illnesses at once.

It was found by the researchers from Britain and Singapore that alteration of a gene called CISH were related to a higher risk of contracting infectious diseases. They added that by having one of these alterations the risk could increase by 18%.

"That one small gene can be involved in multiple infectious diseases at a very fundamental level is a rare and unexpected finding", said Judith Swain, Director of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences.

She added that because of the discovery the scientists' were able to understanding mechanisms of infectious disease that would help the search for new and more effective medicines.

It was noticed that even though there were drugs that could treat malaria, tuberculosis and bacterial blood infections, millions of people died around the world.

It was informed by the World Health Organization that malaria and TB combined kill approximately 2.7 million people every year.

Genes from more than 8,000 people at clinical sites in Malawi, Kenya, Vietnam, Hong Kong and The Gambia over a period of five years were analyzed by a team of scientists.