Defusing the time bomb

Following on from Cellestis' announcement that they are formally entering the TB testing market in Russia comes this study into MDRTB prevalence in India

India, China and Russia account for more than 62% of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) globally.

..Levels of MDRTB are much higher in both previously untreated and first line treatment-failure cases in the selected wards in Mumbai than those projected by national estimates.

Africa is also feeling the strain

Kenyan health experts have warned that the country is sitting on a tuberculosis time-bomb, and are suggesting that the disease be declared a national emergency like HIV/Aids.

Of most concern, the experts say, is the continued unchecked spread of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), which is harder and more expensive to treat than conventional tuberculosis.

.."MDR-TB is now a time bomb," said Ms Lucy Chesire, a prominent Kenyan tuberculosis activist last week. "People have been panicking about such scares as swine flu, but this is far worse."

The fear now is that MDR-TB could degenerate into the so-called XDR-TB, or extreme drug resistant TB, a form that cannot be managed by even second-generation medicines. Cases of XDR-TB have previously been reported in South Africa, and virtually all have led to death...