Setback in fight against TB

RESISTANCE to anti-tuberculosis drugs is threatening to derail efforts to eradicate the disease globally‚ doctors have warned.

A new report published in UK medical journal The Lancet ahead of World TB Day today says about one in five cases of TB are now resistant to at least one major anti-TB drug and about 5% of all cases of TB are classed as multi-drug resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR).

Drug-resistant TB is now predominantly caused by transmission‚ with an estimated 95.9% of new cases infected with MDR-TB strains due to drug-resistant bacteria spreading.

Centre of the Aids of Research in South Africa deputy director Dr Nesri Padayatchi said treatment success for XDR TB locally varied from 16% to 22% and almost half of those patients died despite treatment.

“The concurrent epidemic of HIV infection further exacerbates this TB epidemic,” he said. – TMG Digital