|
CLASSIFICATION OF DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS IS MISLEADING
June 28, 2000The traditional clinical classification of types of drug-resistant tuberculosis may be misleading, and could lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant disease, according to a study in this week's issue of The Lancet.
Traditionally, patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis are classified as having acquired drug-resistant disease (isolation of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a patient who has been treated for tuberculosis for 1 month or longer) or primary drug-resistant disease (isolation of a drug-resistant strain from a patient without a history of previous treatment, implying transmission of a drug-resistant strain) on the basis of history of previous tuberculosis treatment. In surveys, primary (transmitted) resistance has been consistently less common than acquired resistance. Annelies Van Rie and colleagues from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, analysed the strain of M tuberculosis in samples from 63 patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis using a technique called restriction-fragment length polymorphism. All the patients lived in the same community in Metropolitan Cape Town.
According to the results, 33 (52%) cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis were caused by transmission of drug-resistant strains. Most cases were due to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis rather than single-drug-resistant tubersulosis. By the clinical classification, only 18 (29%) patients were classified as having primary drug-resistant tuberculosis. The clinical classification was thus misleading in 25 patients. The investigators state that "the clinical term acquired drug resistance should be replaced with the term 'drug resistance in previously treated cases', which includes cases with drug resistance due to true acquisition as well as that due to transmitted drug-resistant strains."
Contact: Prof Nulda Beyers, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa. T)(021) 938 9114; F) (021) 938 9138; E)nb@gerga.sun.ac.za
Lancet
Tuberculosis News and Current Tuberculosis Events RSSNew Electrostatic-based DNA Microarray Technique Could Revolutionize Medical Diagnostics
The dream of personalized medicine - in which diagnostics, risk predictions and treatment decisions are based on a patient's genetic profile - may be on the verge of being expanded beyond the wealthiest of nations with state-of-the-art clinics.
Predicting TB outbreaks based on the first 2 cases
Outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB) may be able to be identified by looking at certain characteristics of the first two patients, according to new research.
Radical reform is needed to stop the 'inhumane' practice of transplant tourism
The UK government must bring in presumed consent to organ donation or allow a controlled donor compensation programme for unrelated live donors, in order to bring the "inhumane" practice of transplant tourism from the UK to an end, claims a doctor in this week's BMJ.
Pitt-led Researchers Find Source of Drug-Tolerant Tuberculosis Possibly Behind TB Relapses, Intensity of Treatment
University of Pittsburgh-led researchers discovered that the primary bacteria behind tuberculosis can grow on surfaces and that drug-tolerant strains flourish in these bacterial communities, the research team recently reported in "Molecular Microbiology."
US soldiers in high-tuberculosis areas face new epidemic: false positives
U.S. Army service members are increasingly deployed in regions of the world where tuberculosis (TB) is rampant, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and the military now faces a growing medical problem.
Tuberculosis not the only risk from new immunological drugs
A new survey cautions physicians that drugs commonly prescribed for patients suffering from immunological disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease may carry risks of serious infections other than the known risk of tuberculosis.
Pilot study reinforces use of portable anteroom HEPA filtration
Amidst an increase in new tuberculosis cases, researchers have begun investigating the effectiveness of new operating room filtration systems designed to protect staff and patients.
X-rays power discoveries at Chicago's Field Museum
Digital medical imaging and information technology from Carestream Health, Inc., is playing a key role in helping The Field Museum of Chicago discover and analyze secrets hidden within its world-class collections.
Study shows common vitamin and other micronutrient supplements reduce risks of TB recurrence
New findings show a link between micronutrient supplementation and reduced risk of recurrence during tuberculosis chemotherapy, according to a study published in the June 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.
NIAID describes research priorities to fight drug-resistant tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) has long been one of the world's great killers. Now, forms of drug-resistant TB--multidrug (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)--are occurring at an ominous and accelerating rate.
More Tuberculosis News Articles
 | The Air We Breathe: A Novel by Andrea Barrett |
 | Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag |
 | The Bioarchaeology of Tuberculosis: A Global View on a Reemerging Disease by CHARLOTTE ROBERTS, JANE BUIKSTRA |
 | Towns of the Sandia Mountains (NM) (Images of America) by Mike Smith |
 | The White Plague: Tuberculosis, Man, and Society by Rene J. Dubos |
 | Harvey Girl by Sheila Wood Foard |
 | The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook |
 | The Return of the White Plague: Global Poverty and the 'New' Tuberculosis |
 | Virgin River: A Barnaby Skye Novel (Skye's West) by Richard S. Wheeler |
 | The Nigger of the "Narcissus" (Dover Thrift Editions) by Joseph Conrad |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |