Posted on 06/30/2008 10:07:37 PM PDT by neverdem
A new test that can detect multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis in two days instead of the standard two to three months promises to help significantly improve treatment and prevent the spread of the airborne infection, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
Multiple-drug-resistant TB, or MDR-TB, is a growing public health problem in the world. Five percent of new TB cases are resistant to first-line drugs. That is 450,000 of the nine million new TB cases that are detected each year, the W.H.O. says.
In the United States, the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis among foreign-born TB patients has been about 1.5 percent, roughly three times the percentage among American-born patients with TB.
“The new test is revolutionary,” said Dr. Mario C. Raviglione, W.H.O.’s director of tuberculosis control, because “it changes completely the way we will be dealing with MDR-TB.”
The difficulty in detecting cases rapidly and accurately is a major obstacle in tuberculosis control. In most developing countries, cases cannot be detected easily or at all, leading to lags in starting proper treatment that can lead to a patient’s death and the further spread of resistant strains.
The new test was described for reporters by telephone on Monday by officials from the W.H.O. and three other international health groups, the Stop TB Partnership, Unitaid and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, or FIND.
The TB test, called a line probe assay, costs less than $8 and detects mutations in bacterial DNA linked to drug resistance.
It is based on the same laboratory methods that scientists have used to determine parentage and detect certain genetic diseases, said Dr. Richard O’Brien, an official of FIND.
The test could have been developed five years ago if there had been greater funds and demand. Dr. Raviglione of the W.H.O. said it took widespread publicity about an...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
another "bush's fault" moment?
sheesh
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Thanks....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.