Paul Nunn -- who heads the tuberculosis resistance team for WHO -- estimated the situation as a serious one, encompassing 9 million TB cases worldwide. WHO estimates that 180,000 of these cases -- roughly two percent -- could be XDR-TB, one of the newer strains. Nunn says "This is raising the spectre of something that we have been worried might happen for a decade -- the possibility of virtually untreatable TB."
The XDR-TB virus is resistant to conventional drug treatment, and it's been linked to deaths in several countries -- including the
United States, Eastern Europe and
Africa. If the XDR-TB virus spreads in Africa, it could affect the containment of the AIDS pandemic currently underway on that continent.
In the United States alone, 33 percent of those who have been diagnosed with XDR-TB have died. In March 2006, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) concluded there had been 64 cases of XDR-TB at that point, and 21 of those cases ended in the patient's death.
One of the most serious situations is in Africa, where all XDR-TB patients who could be tested were found to be HIV positive. With AIDS causing patients to become susceptible to any and all types of infection, tuberculosis is a major cause of death in people who already have AIDS. In addition, most African countries either do not have emergency plans in place or medical laboratories capable of collecting and analyzing data to track and deal with TB-infected citizens.
WHO officials and global TB experts will meet in an emergency two-day meeting in Johannesburg tomorrow to discuss recommendations for containment and to ensure all known TB patients take a full six-month course of drugs. This effort's goal will be to try and prevent drug resistance from developing. Those efforts have met with limited success so far.
###
 |
Additional Resources:
tuberculosis
XDR-TB
infectious disease
|
Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com
 Email this article to a friend
 Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us
Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/020849.html
Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.
|
 |
 |
Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE
 Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber!
- Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more.
- Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.
|
|
 |
 |
Recommended Special Report:
 Seven Words that can Change the World
by Joseph R. Simonetta
Read this special report now...
"Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com
|
More on NaturalNews.com:
• Streaming Health Ranger Videos
• CounterThink Cartoons
• FREE Special Reports
• Podcasts
|
 |
Printable Version
