First two cases of super TB hit Cape
By, Melanie Peters, Indepentdent Online, February 3, 2007
The Western Cape has identified its first two cases of the killer strain of extremely drug resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, the provincial health department said on Friday.
One case, that of an 11-month-old baby girl, was being treated in Brooklyn Chest TB Hospital, said spokesperson Miranda Anthony.
The other patient, a woman from the Eastern Cape, was being treated at the Carnation ward at Lentegeur Hospital. She was in isolation.
XDR-TB made headlines last year when it was first identified in South Africa at Tugela Ferry in KwaZulu-Natal, with 52 of the first 53 patients dying. The disease is complicated by the presence of HIV/Aids.
Late last year over 300 cases of XDR-TB were confirmed across the country, the national health department said. It recorded 263 cases in KwaZulu-Natal, 10 cases each in the Eastern Cape and the North West, eight in Gauteng, six in the Free State, three in Limpopo and two in the Northern Cape. But none were reported in Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
XDR-TB is defined by the World Health Organisation as TB which is resistant to the main first-line TB drugs and to three or more of the six second-line drugs.
Anthony said precautions have been taken to protect staff caring for the two patients. The department was following up all people who had been in close contact with them. If they had contracted the disease then treatment would involve drugs to which the person was likely to respond.
She said: "Because XDR-TB is resistant to first and second-line drugs, treatment options are seriously limited. It is vital that TB control is managed properly."
Anthony said someone who already had ordinary TB could avoid getting the MDR or XDR strains by taking all their TB treatment exactly as prescribed.
Source: http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070203104200938C551228
The Western Cape has identified its first two cases of the killer strain of extremely drug resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, the provincial health department said on Friday.
One case, that of an 11-month-old baby girl, was being treated in Brooklyn Chest TB Hospital, said spokesperson Miranda Anthony.
The other patient, a woman from the Eastern Cape, was being treated at the Carnation ward at Lentegeur Hospital. She was in isolation.
XDR-TB made headlines last year when it was first identified in South Africa at Tugela Ferry in KwaZulu-Natal, with 52 of the first 53 patients dying. The disease is complicated by the presence of HIV/Aids.
Late last year over 300 cases of XDR-TB were confirmed across the country, the national health department said. It recorded 263 cases in KwaZulu-Natal, 10 cases each in the Eastern Cape and the North West, eight in Gauteng, six in the Free State, three in Limpopo and two in the Northern Cape. But none were reported in Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
XDR-TB is defined by the World Health Organisation as TB which is resistant to the main first-line TB drugs and to three or more of the six second-line drugs.
Anthony said precautions have been taken to protect staff caring for the two patients. The department was following up all people who had been in close contact with them. If they had contracted the disease then treatment would involve drugs to which the person was likely to respond.
She said: "Because XDR-TB is resistant to first and second-line drugs, treatment options are seriously limited. It is vital that TB control is managed properly."
Anthony said someone who already had ordinary TB could avoid getting the MDR or XDR strains by taking all their TB treatment exactly as prescribed.
Source: http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070203104200938C551228
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