A New Drug Resistant Form Of Tuberculosis Is Spreading In India
A new strain of tuberculosis that is resistant to all current treatments has been spreading — and a lack of good equipment may be helping the disease thrive.
Although largely unreported in the media, cases of total drug-resistant TB (TDR-TB) were first recorded in Italy in 2007, followed by Iran in 2009. Now, India is infected, with 15 cases documented in January, confirmed by the health ministry in April.
"While this handful of cases is worrying, it's just the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan of India's National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.
The virus has been developing a resistance to treatment for some time, with recorded rates of multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) reaching their highest levels ever, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/total-drug-resistant-tuberculosis-prompts-fear-in-india-2012-6