TB with resistance to second-line drugs increasing
A 'serious and emerging public health threat' warn doctors

Tuberculosis (TB) with resistance to second-line drugs is becoming increasingly prevalent around the world, according to data from the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control released on World TB day (March 24th) and published in the March 24th edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Individuals who have TB with resistance to second-line drugs have a significantly increased risk of death compared to patients with resistance to first-line drugs, and the investigators express concern about the emergence of "untreatable" strains of TB.

During the 1990s, TB with resistance to isoniazid and rifampin-two drugs used in first-line anti-TB therapy-emerged as a major health problem across the world. This is usually called multidrug-resistance TB (MDR-TB) and when it occurs, it requires the use of second-line drugs that are less effective, more toxic and costlier.

Control of TB with extensive resistance will "rely on quality assured and internationally recommended treatment regimens administered under strict supervision" as part of the Directly Observed Therapy Short course Plus (DOTS-Plus) program, conclude the investigators. He warns that "the existence of extensive drug-resistance TB [is] a serious and emerging public health threat."

aidsmap.com 5/10/06