Tough action needed on deadly TB strain
By, newscientistspace, January 27, 2007
Forcibly detaining people infected with a deadly strain of drug-resistant tuberculosis may be the only way to stop its spread. So say AIDS specialists in South Africa, where cases of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) are spiralling out of control.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the province hardest hit by South Africa's HIV epidemic, 30 new cases of XDR-TB are being reported each month. HIV makes people easy prey to the disease, which is resistant to most anti-TB drugs and kills almost everyone it infects within 16 days.
"If XDR-TB is not contained, completely drug-resistant TB is waiting in the wings to take its place," says Jerome Singh at the Centre for AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, who is calling for the government to take firmer action (PLoS Medicine, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040050).
Cases of XDR-TB have been reported all over the country but there are currently no infection control ...
Source: http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19325883.100&feedId=health_rss20
Forcibly detaining people infected with a deadly strain of drug-resistant tuberculosis may be the only way to stop its spread. So say AIDS specialists in South Africa, where cases of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) are spiralling out of control.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the province hardest hit by South Africa's HIV epidemic, 30 new cases of XDR-TB are being reported each month. HIV makes people easy prey to the disease, which is resistant to most anti-TB drugs and kills almost everyone it infects within 16 days.
"If XDR-TB is not contained, completely drug-resistant TB is waiting in the wings to take its place," says Jerome Singh at the Centre for AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, who is calling for the government to take firmer action (PLoS Medicine, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040050).
Cases of XDR-TB have been reported all over the country but there are currently no infection control ...
Source: http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19325883.100&feedId=health_rss20
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