Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » ‘Virtually untreatable’ TB found

September 6, 2006

‘Virtually untreatable’ TB found

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.

by curiouscat Tags: Antibiotics, Health Care, Life Science, Popular
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2 Responses to “‘Virtually untreatable’ TB found”

Deadly TB Strain is Spreading, WHO Warns Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 am
[...] “The good news is that the global incidence may have peaked,” particularly in China, India, and Indonesia, he said. “The bad news is that although the incidence has declined [there] is resistance to most powerful first-line drugs and a form of TB that is resistant to second-line drugs.” [...]
CuriousCat: Fighting Tuberculosis Says:
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
“Once routinely treated with cheap antibiotics, TB is poised to make a terrifying comeback. More and more, doctors in developing nations are finding patients infected with strains of TB invulnerable to all but a handful of extremely expensive, exotic drugs…”