Tuberculosis - Articles - Zimbio

Inadequate TB treatment

Fri, 2 Aug 2008 02:41:00 GMT

posted by abs786

In certain "hot zones" where multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is prevalent, patients treated with standard TB drugs have high rates of failure and relapse, new research indicates.

In countries where "drug sensitivity testing" is not performed routinely, the current standard anti-TB drug regimens "may be contributing to worsening drug resistance levels," a multinational research team warns in a report published Friday.

Dr. Dick Menzies, from McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues analyzed the association between drug resistance and treatment outcome in 103 countries, which were selected because their multidrug-resistant TB prevalences were known and because they had each reported on outcomes for more than 250 cases treated with standard treatment regimens in 2003 and/or 2004.

The researchers calculated that every 1 percent increase in the initial prevalence of multidrug-resistant TB was associated with a 0.3 percent increase in treatment failure among new cases, a 1.1 percent increase in failure among retreatment cases, and a 1 percent increase in relapse. The results are statistically significant, the researchers note.

Menzies and his team believe that in countries where initial multidrug-resistant TB prevalence is at least 3 percent, "it is urgent to strengthen capacity to perform drug sensitivity testing, or to reexamine standardized (initial treatment and retreatment) regimens."

In these countries, more than 20 percent of treated patients required retreatment, their report indicates. Moreover, in all countries, retreatment outcomes were generally poor, with high rates of default, failure, and death.

The investigators warn, "Failure to act now will mean far more resources will be needed in the long run to address global drug resistance."

Drs. Marcos Espinal and Mario C. Raviglione, with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, agree, noting in an editorial that current tools for managing multidrug-resistant TB "are decades old, complex to use, time consuming, and more importantly, not designed for case management of multidrug-resistant TB."

"Unless those with the responsibility to boost control and research efforts increase their commitments and their financial investments by several fold, we may never see elimination of this major scourge in the decades to come," the editorial concludes.

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Ambulance chasing Lawyer should be familiar with the law

Thu, 1 Jun 2007 05:24:46 GMT

posted by vicezilla

Turns out the globetrotting TB carrier was a lawyer! Not just any lawyer, but a ‘personal injury Lawyer’, aka ambulance chaser.

Andrew Speaker, who practices law with his father at the Speaker Law Firm, has been identified by CNN as the idiot who put hundreds of lives at stake by his negligence.

I’d link to the law firm’s website, but for some reason it is unavailable! I wonder why?

Being a lawyer, you would think he would have some notion as what ‘responsibility’ means. But then again, he’s only an ambulance chasing personal injury lawyer, so how much could he REALLY know about responsibility and the law?

His actions only make him stupider in light of the fact he actually has (or should I say had) a law degree!

Proud Father with irresponsible Son

Effect of vitamin E and selenium supplementation on oxidative stress status in pulmonary tuberculosis patients.

Sun, 12 May 2008 18:37:03 GMT

posted by jmorrow10

“BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Increased production of reactive oxygen species secondary to phagocyte respiratory burst occurs in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). The present study evaluated the efficacy of vitamin E-selenium supplementation on oxidative stress in newly diagnosed patients treated for pulmonary TB.”

“The intervention group (n = 17) received vitamin E and selenium (vitamin E: 140 mg alpha-tocopherol and selenium: 200 microg).”

“CONCLUSION: A 2-month intervention with vitamin E and selenium supplementation reduces oxidative stress and enhances total antioxidant status in patients with pulmonary TB treated with standard chemotherapy.”

Reference:

Seyedrezazadeh E, Ostadrahimi A, Mahboob S, Assadi Y, Ghaemmagami J, Pourmogaddam M. Effect of vitamin E and selenium supplementation on oxidative stress status in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Respirology. 2008 Mar;13(2):294-8.

Daily Mirror spreads Disease

Mon, 6 Mar 2007 22:01:13 GMT

posted by Warband

The Daily Mirror – remember it? Well, the down market tabloid as printed an article about Richard Barnbrook of the British National Party contracting Tuberculosis.

Understandably Councillor Barnbrook is a little peeved about this, but with their usual flair, the red rag scream. Barnbrook, 46, ranted: "Yes I have got TB. Immigration has caused this." - And he may well be right. It is difficult to go anywhere in our nation now without bumping into someone from Asia or Africa – both countries with a very high rate of the “White Death”.

The “newspaper” then goes on to blame everyone and everything for the rise of T.B. except the real one. Immigration.

They then list the following facts – I have taken the liberty to comment under each.

D.M.- TUBERCULOSIS was NEVER wiped out in Britain, despite doctors finding an antibiotics cure more than 50 years ago.

Now that would be right when you consider, that is around the time that we opened the gates to immigration and invited the disease in. The only way to stop a sink overflowing is turn of the tap.

D.M.- CASES here have never fallen below 5,000 a year. Half of all TB diagnosed is in British people that were born in the UK.

In England 60% of cases are in ethnic minority groups, which comprise only 5% of the population.

They then go on to list more of the same. Still playing down the link with immigration and even more dangerous for the population – how serious the problem is.

Ask yourself this. Who do you belief? The Daily Mirror with its hidden agenda or the World Health Organisation who have taken the unique step of declaring tuberculosis to be a world emergency.

Tuberculosis in the Land of the Bible

Wed, 16 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

posted by cmariottini
The BBC is reporting that archaeologists have concluded that the 9,000-year-old remains of a mother and her baby discovered off the coast of Israel provide the earliest concrete evidence of human TB.

The remains of the woman and her baby were excavated from Alit-Yam, an ancient Neolithic village near Haifa.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, News, TB, Tuberculosis