TB : AN OLD FOE RETURNS. 1.3 MILLION PEOPLE DIE YEARLY OF THE DISEASE

 

Tubercolosis brings back visions of hospital quarantines and 'consumption' deaths often depicted in movies and novels. 

For the most part however, the disease has been thought of a danger that remained relegated to a distant past, when antibiotics had not been discovered. 

But as of last year, 1.3 million people died of the disease, posing some very scary questions as to the evolution of the disease, and whether enough is being done to curb its advance. 

As of 2012, Tubercolosis was the second highest infectious disease, after AIDS.  Although numbers fluctuate year on year, the truth is that TB is on the march, and the newest strains show a stubborn resistance to antibiotics.  

One of the problems with containment of the re-emerging disease is the fact that only 2/3 of the total number of cases are actually diagnosed.  And that means that the remaining 1/3 is composed of cases where the infected person is untreated and infecting others.  

Most of the cases are in India, with China not too far behind.  

The World Health Organization has stepped up efforts in the past few years to combat the spread of the disease, by identifying 56 million people, and saving 22 million who would have otherwise died if left untreated. 

The problem with emerging drug resistant strains is that in some cases they emerge because the treatment was unfit or the person who is treated does not follow the treatment guidelines properly.  Since the treatment can run in the months, some in third world countries have a hard time sticking to it, or accessing the necessary medication for that length of time.

The drug resistant strain, called MDR-TB has killed 170,000 people in 2012. That's a significant number for a disease that is highly contagious, and very difficult to battle. 

One of the problems with drug resistant and regular TB is that most of the cases are in poor, rural or remote communities, so that the infected patients are unable to bear the cost of treament.  The WHO has asked for the international community to step up funding but so far it has not met its objective of 2 billion dollars needed yearly to effecticely combat the disease. 

Source : France 24/ 10.23.13