Friday, September 07, 2012

Blog 2: TB: Strains that are Resistant and Costly

This article talked about how Tuberculosis the “drug-resistant” kind is spreading in several countries like Estonia, Latvia, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, China, and Thailand. I went beyond this article to give a clearer understanding about Tuberculosis, TB. There are two types of Tuberculosis; 1) Pulmonary Tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial infection within the lungs. 2) Disseminated Tuberculosis is also a contagious bacterial infection within the lungs. Both bacteria’s are called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Both can be spread to other organs in the body through blood and lymph system. The Disseminated Tuberculosis also known at Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis, is the one that is raising concern because in most cases it’s “drug resistant”. This disease can be air born (http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/pulmonary-berculosis/overview.html and http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/disseminated-tuberculosis).

TB is on the rise in our country and abroad. Here in the U.S. in all medical fields you are required to take a TB test upon hire and in most medical facilities a TB test every year. This article states that within the countries, I mentioned in the first paragraph, “almost 44 percent showed resistance to at least one second-line drug. The World Health Organization showed an uniform study.” This article states that a third of the world has latent (dormant) TB and it can become active if an infected person’s immune system is low. This form concentrates within certain groups, people who does not take care of themselves because of drug abuse, lack of shelter, or no way to get medical attention for a simple illness.

The cure TB can be costly; “resistant strain can cost 200 times as much as the typical TB. The treatment can take years.”

There are organizations doing research to find a vaccine that can cure without interfering with other drugs.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/drug-resistant-tuberculosis-strains-show-growth-worldwide.html?_r=1


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/health/drug-resistant-tuberculosis-on-the-rise-in-china.html
 

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