Kenneth Miller
11/15/08 2:56PM
Tuberculosis, popularly viewed as a curable disease of the past is far from the innocent strain it once was. New mutations have been discovered in the disease that resist all modern day treatment. Most deadly of these new strains is XDR-TB which does not respond to antibiotics which makes it virtually uncurable and a pandemic disease. 40,000 cases of this strain appear yearly and is described by one journalist as "a merciless man-eating predator lurking in the shadows." Journalist James Nachtwey travels the world recording the horrors of TB and raising awareness of the new calibur of disease which could be an impending health crises. Nachtwey raises awareness using his photography of the helplessly dying victims to emphasis the magnitude of threat of this disease. Scientist believe the rise of the strain came from improper use of TB medication which lent a hand to its deadly evolution. Funds are scarce to fight this new TB, and if spread to populated regions of the U.S could be the next deadly pandemic.
All word play and pun aside, the threat of TB appears to be extremely serious. After taking a brief tour of Nachtwey's photography site XDR-TB.ORG I was pretty stunned at the bleak effects of the disease. I guess most view TB as a nasty cough that is quelled with some simple grocery store cough meds and extended sleep, however the photos in his collection show quite a different story in the drugs later stages. The funding issue is great, and raises a tough question such as which diseases to fund a cure for, and which to put back of the line. This new strain of TB seems to have snuck up quite suddenly and without much coverage until now, but hopefully Nachtwey's work will be a driving force to get attention on this stituation, and in turn a developed cure.
((EDIT: Completely missed the fact that the article had been done just below. Apologies to the other person who had the article first.))
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/14/xdrtb/
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