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Another TB Scare as Woman With Rare Form of TB isTreated at the
NIHDE Brown June 09, 2015
A woman with an uncommon form of drug resistanttuberculosis is
being treated at the National Institute ofHealth after traveling
both abroad and within the US.
(Newswire.net -- June 9, 2015) --A woman with a form of
drugresistant tuberculosis is being treated at the National
Institutesof Health, as health officials seek those that she may
have
come in contact with while traveling on a flight from India as
well as trips inside the United States. In April of this year,the
woman traveled from India via Chicago OHare International Airport
and also visited Missouri and Tennessee.
Seven weeks after she got to the United States, she sought
treatment and was diagnosed with active TB, officials said.She is
currently in stable condition in an isolation unit at the NIH
Clinical Center in Bethesda. Health care providers andinfectious
disease specialists are concerned about this form of TB that is
resistant all the usual drugs that are used fortreating TB.
The World Health Organization declared TB a "global health
emergency" in 1993, and in 2006, the Stop TB Partnershipdeveloped a
Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis that aims to save 14 million lives
between its launch and 2015. Anumber of targets they have set are
not likely to be achieved by 2015, mostly due to the increase in
HIV-associatedtuberculosis and the emergence of multiple
drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). A tuberculosis classification
systemdeveloped by the American Thoracic Society is used primarily
in public health programs.
Currents tests are very expensive, time consuming, and not
useful in third world countries. One third of the world'spopulation
is thought to be or has been infected with M. tuberculosis (World
Health Organization (2009) in theirpublication "Epidemiology,"
Global tuberculosis control: epidemiology, strategy, financing. pp.
633).
Skin tests are often anergic and they fail to show hidden TB by
a falsely negative skin test in some 50% of immunecompromised
patients. These are the patients most likely to get TB and may have
one or more immune suppressionconditions such as HIV-AIDS. Cultures
can take 6 to 8 weeks and are difficult to obtain (bronchoscopy is
not feasible). Serum tests for TB are much too expensive.
There is an additional problem of drug resistance due to
compliance and high death rate due to other infections. Spreading
diseases is a big worldwide concern.
Drug resistance
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a serious emerging problem
in many low-resource countries, and the World HealthOrganization
declared TB a "global health emergency" in 1993. The increase in
the number of TB cases that nowworldwide and resistance to all
drugs is becoming a serious concern with few new solutions.
TB epidemic: there are an estimated 9.4 million new cases
globally, tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major publichealth
concern. Eighty percent of all cases worldwide occur in 22
high-burden, mainly resource-poor settings. Thisdevastating impact
of tuberculosis on vulnerable populations is also driven by its
deadly synergy with HIV. Therefore,building capacity and enhancing
universal access to rapid and accurate laboratory diagnostics are
necessary to controlTB and HIV-TB coinfections in resource-limited
countries.
HIV infection in humans is considered pandemic by the World
Health Organization and only 0.5% of women attendingurban health
facilities are counseled, tested or receive their test results.
Further, because HIV testing is oftenunavailable in many third
world countries, there are associated high rates of undetected HIV,
high rates oftransmission, and high rates of associated diseases
such as TB and some cancers.
In 2007, there were an estimated 13.7 million chronic active
cases globally,[4] while in 2010, there were an estimated
8.8 million new cases and 1.5 million associated deaths, mostly
occurring in developing countries.[5] The absolutenumber of
tuberculosis cases has been decreasing since 2006, and new cases
have decreased since 2002.[5] Thedistribution of tuberculosis is
not uniform across the globe; about 80% of the population in many
Asian and Africancountries test positive in tuberculin tests, while
only 510% of the United States population tests positive.[1]
Morepeople in the developing world contract tuberculosis because of
compromised immunity, largely due to high rates ofHIV infection and
the corresponding development of AIDS.[6]
About 510% of those without HIV, infected with tuberculosis,
develop active disease during their lifetimes.[8] Incontrast, 30%
of those coinfected with HIV develop active disease.[8]
Tuberculosis may infect any part of the body, butmost commonly
occurs in the lungs (known as pulmonary tuberculosis).[9]
Extrapulmonary TB occurs whentuberculosis develops outside of the
lungs. Extrapulmonary TB may coexist with pulmonary TB as well.[9]
Generalsigns and symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, loss
of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue,[9] and significantfinger
clubbing ay also occur.[8]
A number of factors make people more susceptible to TB
infections. The most important risk factor globally is HIV;13% of
all TB cases are infected by the virus.[5] This is a particular
problem in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates of HIVare high.
Tuberculosis is closely linked to both overcrowding and
malnutrition, making it one of the principal diseasesof poverty.[6]
Those at high risk thus include: people who inject illicit drugs,
inhabitants and employees of locales wherevulnerable people gather
(e.g. prisons and homeless shelters), medically underprivileged and
resource-poorcommunities, high-risk ethnic minorities, children in
close contact with high-risk category patients, and health
careproviders serving these clients.
Tuberculosis is the second most common cause of death from
infectious disease (after those due to HIV/AIDS).[9] Theabsolute
number of tuberculosis cases ("prevalence") has been decreasing
since 2005, while new cases ("incidence")have decreased since
2002.[5] China has achieved particularly dramatic progress, with an
approximate 80% reductionin its TB mortality rate between 1990 and
2010.[85] Tuberculosis is more common in developing countries;
about 80%of the population in many Asian and African countries test
positive in tuberculin tests, while only 510% of the USpopulation
test positive.[1] Hopes of totally controlling the disease have
been dramatically dampened because of anumber of factors, including
the difficulty of developing an effective vaccine, the expensive
and time-consumingdiagnostic process, the necessity of many months
of treatment, the increase in HIV-associated tuberculosis, and
theemergence of drug-resistant cases in the 1980s
A Solution is point of care testing. The Development of
noninvasive methods for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, with
thepotential to be administered in field situations, remains as an
unmet worldwide challenge so we need to revolutionizethe diagnostic
evaluation for TB tests with an inexpensive hand held device
testing for to discriminate tuberculosispatients from healthy
subjects primarily testing for the markers for this disease.
About the Author
Dr. Kevin Buckman is the CEO of Viratech Corp, a company seeking
to find new solutions for the rapid and earlydetection of diseases,
while also using the power of social networking technologies for
communication and research.
Source:
http://newswire.net/newsroom/news/00089032-tuberculosis-scare.html
Another TB Scare as Woman With Rare Form of TB is Treated at the
NIH
