Drug-Resistant TB Surfaces in Thailand
By, Sai Silp, The Irrawaddy, June 15, 2007
Thai officials have stepped up surveillance and protective measures after 13 Thai citizens and two ethnic Karen migrants from Burma were found to be carrying a dangerous and highly drug-resistant form of tuberculosis.
Dr Thawat Sunthrajarn, director-general of Thailand’s Disease Control Department, said that while infected TB patients needed to be on medication continuously for six months only 79 percent diagnosed with the disease in Thailand completed their treatment. The World Health Organization’s required standard was 85 percent, he said.
If treatment were neglected or not completed, the disease built a resistance to the medicine and most patients died, Dr Thawat warned.
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health adopts various strategies to combat outbreaks of TB and says it insists on following up on patients and their medication closely. It is common practice to treat TB and HIV together, because 30 percent of HIV patients also have TB.
The ministry has also identified special risk groups such as migrants and people living along border areas and collaborates with international aid organizations working in those areas to tackle the problem.
Recently, the ministry also announced a campaign to promote the use of hygienic masks to prevent the spread of respiratory-transmitted diseases like the common cold, influenza, pneumonia and TB. The current annual budget for treatment of these diseases is about 5 billion baht (US $138,500,000).
The medical aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières has reported that two cases of “Extremely Drug Resistance-TB (XDR-TB)” cases had been diagnosed in Karen migrants from Burma. Dr. Thawat confirmed that one case was found in a refugee camp near Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border, but said it was believed that the other infected person had returned to Burma and could not be located. He said details of all cases of XDR-TB would be forwarded to the WHO.
A member of staff at the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot confirmed that the number of patients with TB entering the clinic has been increasing, although about a half of the people suspected of having TB have to be referred to MSF because the small clinic does not have the facilities to cater for so many patients.
Dr. Manoon Leechawengwong, chairman of the Drug Resistant TB Research Fund, said that the foundation, under the patronage of the Siriraj Foundation, began research into drug-resistant forms of TB in 2001 and had since found 13 cases identified as XDR-TB, according to a report in The Nation. Dr. Manoon warned that respiratory- transmitted diseases could spread easily, particularly in air-conditioned public places in big cities.
The worldwide spread of TB continues to cause concern. In March, the WHO reported that there were 269 XDR-TB cases in 35 countries worldwide. In Thailand, an estimated 91,000 people have TB, 40,000 of whom are contagious. So far in 2007, 10,000 new cases have been diagnosed.
Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=7486
Thai officials have stepped up surveillance and protective measures after 13 Thai citizens and two ethnic Karen migrants from Burma were found to be carrying a dangerous and highly drug-resistant form of tuberculosis.
Dr Thawat Sunthrajarn, director-general of Thailand’s Disease Control Department, said that while infected TB patients needed to be on medication continuously for six months only 79 percent diagnosed with the disease in Thailand completed their treatment. The World Health Organization’s required standard was 85 percent, he said.
If treatment were neglected or not completed, the disease built a resistance to the medicine and most patients died, Dr Thawat warned.
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health adopts various strategies to combat outbreaks of TB and says it insists on following up on patients and their medication closely. It is common practice to treat TB and HIV together, because 30 percent of HIV patients also have TB.
The ministry has also identified special risk groups such as migrants and people living along border areas and collaborates with international aid organizations working in those areas to tackle the problem.
Recently, the ministry also announced a campaign to promote the use of hygienic masks to prevent the spread of respiratory-transmitted diseases like the common cold, influenza, pneumonia and TB. The current annual budget for treatment of these diseases is about 5 billion baht (US $138,500,000).
The medical aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières has reported that two cases of “Extremely Drug Resistance-TB (XDR-TB)” cases had been diagnosed in Karen migrants from Burma. Dr. Thawat confirmed that one case was found in a refugee camp near Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border, but said it was believed that the other infected person had returned to Burma and could not be located. He said details of all cases of XDR-TB would be forwarded to the WHO.
A member of staff at the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot confirmed that the number of patients with TB entering the clinic has been increasing, although about a half of the people suspected of having TB have to be referred to MSF because the small clinic does not have the facilities to cater for so many patients.
Dr. Manoon Leechawengwong, chairman of the Drug Resistant TB Research Fund, said that the foundation, under the patronage of the Siriraj Foundation, began research into drug-resistant forms of TB in 2001 and had since found 13 cases identified as XDR-TB, according to a report in The Nation. Dr. Manoon warned that respiratory- transmitted diseases could spread easily, particularly in air-conditioned public places in big cities.
The worldwide spread of TB continues to cause concern. In March, the WHO reported that there were 269 XDR-TB cases in 35 countries worldwide. In Thailand, an estimated 91,000 people have TB, 40,000 of whom are contagious. So far in 2007, 10,000 new cases have been diagnosed.
Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=7486
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