Posted on 05/03/2007 2:50:19 PM PDT by happygrl
A virulent strain of tuberculosis resistant to most available drugs is surfacing around the globe, raising fears of a pandemic that could devastate efforts to contain TB and prove deadly to people with immune-deficiency diseases such as HIV-AIDS.
Known formally as extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB, the strain has been detected in 37 countries. It arises when the bacterium that causes TB mutates because antibiotics used to combat it are carelessly administered by poorly trained doctors or patients don't take their full course of medication. Rather than being killed by the drugs, the microbe builds up resistance to them.
At least 50 percent of those who contract this strain of TB will die of it, ... In trying to stop the spread of the disease, which can be transmitted through coughing, spitting or even speaking, health officials have imposed sometimes extreme controls on infected people.
Even in the antibiotics age, TB has remained a scourge in poorer countries and communities.... one in three people globally is estimated to be infected with dormant TB, according to the World Health Organization. Most will never get sick, but one in 10 cases the bacterium becomes active when the host's immune system is compromised. Worldwide, an estimated 1.7 million people die every year of the disease.
Two events last year alerted the medical community to a frightening new version of the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drawing on a survey of TB labs on six continents, reported that the prevalence of the super strain of TB increased from 3 percent of patients to 11 percent between 2000 and 2004. It reached 15 percent in South Korea and 19 percent in Latvia. There are no statistics yet about the new strain in Russia, China or Africa, areas with major TB populations.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Is this a C/E thread?
C/E ?
TB is no laughing matter. It’s highly contagious and a very nasty way to go. It’s something that should alarm people.
Sure he’s a criminal. He’s going around knowing he’s spreading something that will kill people. No different that if he used a gun.
I once attended a lecture by an archaeologist who was working a dig on the North Slope of Alaska. He had found the 14,000 year old skeletal remains of an adolescent male. The bones showed evidence of TB infection.
This disease has been around at least as long as homo sapiens and will probably outlast us.
I am in total agreement with you.
About 15 years ago there was an outbreak of it among cafeteria workers at a college campus in Dover, DE that was royally hushed up by the state.....I know it was covered up, because I'm the one that brought it to the attention of some folks in the media.
..Just SAY IT.
You know what I mean!...:)
....or maybe not...
If his open borders policy lets sick Third World people in, yes, it will be his fault.
I’m not an epidemiologist, but I believe the first shots over the bow on this came from Russia and Eastern Europe. I’m not sure it began there, but it is the source of a wide focus.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/273/5274/497
F
The little buggers are catching up because YOU (or I) can walk into any pharmacy in most countries and ask for 50 ampicillin, Cipro or whatever—no scrip needed. The lack of control and over-prescription here in the U.S. as well has caused this problem. That is why certain antibiotics are locked in hospital pharmacy cabinets and used ONLY when indicated now. Otherwise, we’re out of luck...all of us.
bump
I understand that TB is a serious issue and the immigration point is well taken. My issue, however, is with the hysteria ginned up by the 'doom and gloom' media. I have survived (along with most reading these boards) Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Killer Bees, Mad Cow, SARS, AIDS, Y2K, the oncoming ice age (1970s), Global Warming (present) and a plethora of other 'infearmation' campaigns perpetrated by the MSM. Hell, I think my mother even drove a Pinto when I was a kid. Todays media looks like it is being produced by Irwin Allen, of disaster film fame. I am so tired of the fear mongering that the media offers I think it may kill me!
Now there is a pandemic that needs addressing!
Can’t say that I read the whole article.
I just find it hard to know that the coddling of AIDS has and will lead to so much more death than was necessary.
I couldn’t agree more.
One of the best responses I have ever read on FR. Thank you so very much for putting into such a unique perspective.
The second 50% will live - but die later....
Just when the homosexual crowd thought they were out of the woods and could resume their old practices, here comes something that might really put the nails in the coffins.
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