In Pursuit of Better Weapons to Combat TB Sep 3, 2008
Tuberculosis remains a stubborn foe despite the efforts of the public and private sector's efforts to deploy new antibiotics and diagnostic tools against a disease that thrives on poverty and ignorance. LENDING A HELPING HAND: Lubov Potaskaeva, 85 years old and sick with tuberculosis, relies on an outreach program and the aid of a neighbor to treat her disease. (Scientific American)
Older Antibiotic Might Speed Tuberculosis Recovery Dec 20, 2007
MedlinePlus: Older antibiotic might speed TB recovery. Older antibiotic might speed TB recovery. (MEDLINEplus)
Older drug might speed TB treatment Dec 18, 2007
"It is kind of a resurrection story." Nuermberger said the drug would probably not work against multi-drug resistant or MDR tuberculosis, a strain that can survive the effects of most antibiotics, because it is so similar to Rifampin - one of the drugs useless against MDR TB.. About 1. (India Times, India)
South Africa: Treat Drug Resistant TB in the Communities Nov 10, 2007
com: South Africa: Treat MDR TB in the Communities (Page 1 of 1). Use our pull-down menus to find more stories. (allAfrica.com)
Quarantined man has lesser form of TB Jul 5, 2007
" In a statement, Speaker, a 31-year-old personal-injury attorney, chided the CDC for its initial misdiagnosis and the way it handled his case. "In the future, I hope they realize the terribly chilling effect they can have when they come after someone and their family on a personal level," Speaker said. "They can, in a few days, destroy an entire family's reputation, ability to make a living and good name. " Speaker's father-in-law, Dr. Robert Cooksey, is a microbiologist at the CDC. Using a... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Man's TB severity downgraded Jul 4, 2007
Both XDR and MDR tuberculosis are rare and the distinction between them involves how many antibiotics are effective in killing the bacteria. Of about 14,000 new TB cases in the United States each year, only about 125 are classified as multidrug resistant, Cohen said. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Rapid spread of disease alarms experts May 22, 2007
" In the past few months, XDR has been identified in every one of South Africa's provinces, in rural villages and in city centres, and TB experts say there is no question that it is also spreading across other countries in southern Africa. However, those countries do not have the infrastructure to diagnose it, and so deaths from XDR are going unrecorded. Just as AIDS treatment is finally beginning to reach into all corners of South Africa and its neighbours, there is a very real possibility that... (Globe and Mail)
HIV/AIDS Linked To Extensively Drug Resistant TB Nov 15, 2006
"MDR and XDR carry the danger of blunting or reversing the success of TB programs and the roll-out of anti-retroviral therapies for HIV where they are desperately needed in resource limited settings. Urgent intervention is necessary, especially now that we know that MDR tuberculosis is far more prevalent than previously thought and that XDR tuberculosis has been transmitted to HIV co-infected patients and associated with high mortality.". Future studies will involve defining the extent and... (Science Daily)
Extensively Drug-resistant Tuberculosis Is Emerging Threat Oct 28, 2006
They found that of 1,539 patients, 221 had MDR tuberculosis, and 53 of these had XDR tuberculosis. The prevalence rates in a group of 475 patients with confirmed tuberculosis were 39% for MDR and 6% for XDR tuberculosis higher rates than previously reported in the area. (Science Daily)
KZN denies rise in killer TB deaths Sep 28, 2006
Dr Sibongile Zundu said the 182 people who had died from MDR tuberculosis was the total number of deaths since January 2005 up until September 19 this year. She said it was important to make a distinction between those who had died from the MDR strain and those who had died from the extreme drug resistant (XDR) strain. (iAfrica.com)
Health Highlights: March 23, 2006 Mar 24, 2006
MDR tuberculosis, which refers to disease that is resistant to at least two front-line therapies (isoniazid and rifampin), is difficult and costly to treat and can be fatal. MDR tuberculosis now accounts for 1 ... It will be critical to monitor MDR tuberculosis trends in the coming years to determine whether the 2005 increase represents a nationwide trend and to help experts understand the implications of resistance for TB treatment and control. (Forbes)
