Virtually untreatable TB strain appears

[n2doc]

'Virtually untreatable' TB found


Extreme drug resistant TB (XDR TB) has been seen worldwide, including in the US, Eastern Europe and Africa, although Western Europe has had no cases.Dr Paul Nunn, from the WHO, said a failure to correctly implement treatment strategies was to blame.TB experts have convened in Johannesburg, South Africa, to discuss how to address the problem.TB presently causes about 1.7 million deaths a year worldwide, but researchers are worried about the emergence of strains that are resistant to drugs.Drug resistance is caused by poor TB control, through taking the wrong types of drugs for the incorrect duration.

Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR TB), which describes strains of TB that are resistant to at least two of the main first-line TB drugs, is already a growing concern.Globally, the WHO estimates there are about 425,000 cases of MDR TB a year, mostly occurring in the former Soviet Union, China and India.Treatment requires the use of second-line drugs, which are more toxic, take longer to work and costly.But now, according to researchers, an even more deadly form of the bacteria has emerged.

High prevalence

XDR TB is defined as strains that are not only resistant to the front-line drugs, but also three or more of the six classes of second-line drugs.This, according to Dr Paul Nunn, coordinator of the WHO team at the Stop TB department, makes it virtually untreatable. A recent survey of 18,000 TB samples by the US-based Centers for Disease Control and the WHO between November 2004 and November 2005 found 20% of them were multi-drug resistant and a further 2% were extreme drug resistant. Further detailed analysis of several countries found the prevalence was even higher.

In the US, 4% of all MDR TB cases met the criteria for XDR TB; in South Korea, the figure was 15%. In Latvia, and according to Dr Nunn other areas of the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, 19% of all multi-drug resistant cases were extreme drug resistant too. Dr Nunn said XDR TB was present across several strains, but added it was not yet clear how transmissible it was or whether it was limited to isolated pockets.

more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5317624.stm

[xchrom]

1. well that's depressing.

[Warpy]

2. The only choice is to revive those TB isolation hospices

People with active resistant disease will eventually die. As long as they're out in the world, they'll continue to infect people by activities such as talking and breathing.

Boston still has those laws on the books, and they were being enforced in the late 80s when I left. The result was a much lower prevalence of drug resistant TB than in any other city in the country.

It's a horrible thing to consider, that sort of quarantine. However, it's also the only thing that will protect us from sliding back into the late 1800s in terms of TB outbreaks.

[CountAllVotes]

3. people were dying of TB in the 1940s

I've lost many family members to TB, literally dozens of them. It is a killer and now a strain that is resistant to any treatment is something to fear.

[Warpy]

4. It's also a very slow killer

meaning someone with active disease can infect a whole community before the disease becomes really noticeable.

Yearly screenings are going to have to be done again for everybody.

[CountAllVotes]

5. this is a problem for some people

I know of someone that is allergic to the patch test for TB. This person almost died from it in fact. And for those out there that are suppressing their immune system with drugs for other medical conditions - I greatly fear for them for they will be the first ones to die if such an outbreak occurs.

These medical professionals need to start working on finding a new treatment fast.

My great grandfather and his brother both died of TB. He was in a TB sanitarium for awhile but his wife missed him so much she went and brought him back home to live with her before he died. From the stories I remember hearing about it from my Dad, it was a real horror.

The sanitarium did no good and his wife never contracted TB. His brother was living with my aunt (his sister) and she nor her family contracted it either. I guess they were very careful, I don't know as I wasn't around at the time (c. 1930).