'Terrifying' memories of TB victim
By, Channel 4 News, June 5, 2007
A British victim of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis said that the plight of the US lawyer who has been isolated with a rare strain of the disease brought back "pretty terrifying memories".
Andrew Speaker, 31, of Atlanta, was found to have extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, which can withstand more drugs, while travelling around Europe on his honeymoon last month.
Paul Thorn, who was diagnosed with multi-drug resistant TB 12 years ago, said news of Mr Speaker's plight brought back "terrifying memories" as the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for an extra 2.1 million US dollars (£1m) to fight the disease in America over the next two years.
Mr Thorn, 36, of London, said: "I've certainly lived a lot longer than I expected to."
The author and TB activist was diagnosed HIV positive in 1990 and was regularly admitted to hospitals in the UK as he became increasingly ill with aids-related infections in 1994 and 1995.
"It was on one of these visits to hospital that I was involved in an outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis," he said. "This happened on the ward essentially because of poor infection control. Eight of us were involved in the outbreak and seven people died. I'm the only survivor from that outbreak."
He said he spent three months in isolation before being deemed "non-contagious", when he was allowed to go home and take around 30 tablets-a-day, along with three injections per week, for the next three years.
"I've been watching American news channels at home in the UK and to see Andrew Speaker sat there in that mask brought back some pretty terrifying memories for me," he said. "Because for three months I was essentially cared for by people that I didn't know. I didn't know what they looked like. All I could ever see was their eyes. The disease itself, the weight loss was dramatic to say the least."
"Perhaps harder than the actual illness itself was the isolation and the way people reacted to me. Of course, I had a disease that people were very very frightened of. Tuberculosis is a very very lonely disease.
World-wide, around 424,000 people develop multi-drug resistant TB every year, the WHO said. XDR-TB was identified last year and has since been found in 37 countries on every continent, including all G8 nations.
Source: http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/health/terrifying+memories+of+tb+victim/547057
A British victim of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis said that the plight of the US lawyer who has been isolated with a rare strain of the disease brought back "pretty terrifying memories".
Andrew Speaker, 31, of Atlanta, was found to have extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, which can withstand more drugs, while travelling around Europe on his honeymoon last month.
Paul Thorn, who was diagnosed with multi-drug resistant TB 12 years ago, said news of Mr Speaker's plight brought back "terrifying memories" as the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for an extra 2.1 million US dollars (£1m) to fight the disease in America over the next two years.
Mr Thorn, 36, of London, said: "I've certainly lived a lot longer than I expected to."
The author and TB activist was diagnosed HIV positive in 1990 and was regularly admitted to hospitals in the UK as he became increasingly ill with aids-related infections in 1994 and 1995.
"It was on one of these visits to hospital that I was involved in an outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis," he said. "This happened on the ward essentially because of poor infection control. Eight of us were involved in the outbreak and seven people died. I'm the only survivor from that outbreak."
He said he spent three months in isolation before being deemed "non-contagious", when he was allowed to go home and take around 30 tablets-a-day, along with three injections per week, for the next three years.
"I've been watching American news channels at home in the UK and to see Andrew Speaker sat there in that mask brought back some pretty terrifying memories for me," he said. "Because for three months I was essentially cared for by people that I didn't know. I didn't know what they looked like. All I could ever see was their eyes. The disease itself, the weight loss was dramatic to say the least."
"Perhaps harder than the actual illness itself was the isolation and the way people reacted to me. Of course, I had a disease that people were very very frightened of. Tuberculosis is a very very lonely disease.
World-wide, around 424,000 people develop multi-drug resistant TB every year, the WHO said. XDR-TB was identified last year and has since been found in 37 countries on every continent, including all G8 nations.
Source: http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/health/terrifying+memories+of+tb+victim/547057
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 9:47 am
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