XDR-TB declared dangerous communicable disease

By Thai PBS

 

 

Very serious drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has been declared dangerous communicable disease by the Ministry of Public Health.

 

Public health vice minister Dr Thawat Suntharajarn said that the decision to declare XDR-TB dangerous communicable disease in order to enable patients to be examined and diagnosed quickly so that they can have access to proper medical treatment in accordance with international standard.

 

Also, he said that health officials would be able to contain the spread of the disease quickly.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/xdr-tb-declared-dangerous-communicable-disease/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2017-09-25

 

How is XDR TB spread?

Drug-susceptible TB and XDR TB are spread the same way. TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, shouts, or sings. These bacteria can float in the air for several hours, depending on the environment. Persons who breathe in the air containing these TB bacteria can become infected

 

 he said that health officials would be able to contain the spread of the disease quickly   how?

 

 

 

 

TB is slowly declining but MDR and XDR TB pose a serious challenge in the attempt to eliminate TB across Europe, even though the number of reported MDR TB cases seem to decline slowly.

• In EU, only 1 in every 3 MDR TB patients has a successful treatment outcome; more than half either die, fail treatment or default (stop taking treatment). XDR TB has even worse treatment outcomes: only 1 in 4 patients finishes treatment successfully.

• By not diagnosing and not treating patients with MDR TB early and successfully, we put their live at risk and pave the way for XDR TB.

• Only complete and successful tuberculosis treatment helps to prevent disease transmission and development of resistant strains. 

Edited September 24, 20178 yr by akampa

This one scares the heck out of me; all those Russians and Indians and Chinese coughing every place you go. It is dangerous to eat in any buffet where you hear some one cough or sneeze.

From the source article:

Quote

According to the report, there are about 120,000 TB cases in Thailand, including 4,500 MDR-TB cases and 450 XDR-TB cases.

That is 1 in 500 people with TB! 1 in 13,000 with MDR-TB.

Would sure be nice to know roughly where these populations are concentrated.