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Indiana Student’s TB is drug-resistant strain

(Chicago Tribune) A high school student in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been diagnosed with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis. The diagnosis has prompted testing 150 classmates for TB, which can take months to verify and confirm. TB is spread in the air between people, affecting their lungs and can cause severe chest pains, coughing up blood and potentially death. Multidrug-resistant TB is more difficult to treat and requires stronger medication over a longer period of time, which varies by case.

1.

Indian TB cases "can't be cured"

BBC
The BBC is reporting 12 similar cases emerging in India.  The article states that a normal course of TB treatment lasts between six to nine months. However they also mention the new strains emerging are either resistant to some of the antibiotics or all of them. Doctors at the hospital in Mumbai have been treating patients for two years and America's Centers for Disease Control confirm these cases to be completely drug resistant. Concerns are rising about the spread of these drug-resistant strains as TB is currently second to HIV as leading causes of death from infectious diseases. 

2.

Pursue high-quality DOTS expansion and enhancement

WHO
The World Health Organization outlines the Directly Observed Treatment Short course treatment for common TB strains. DOTS calls for sustained political and financial support, proper diagnosis through sputum-smear testing, standard short-course drug treatment, an uninterrupted supply of proper anti-TB medication and proper reporting to track. The strategy was set in place to limit the spread of multidrug-resistant TB by providing governments and healthcare professionals with a consistent protocol to follow. By ensuring healthcare professionals and governments follow the strategy, they limit the potential complications resulting from incomplete antibiotic treatment or low quality drugs. 

3.

Drug-resistant TB

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The American organization tasked with tracking diseases is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They say drug-resistant TB emerges either after TB patients do not complete their first course of medication or when health-care providers do not prescribe the right treatment.  Further complicating the treatment are limited supplies of the antibiotics in developing nations or cheap drugs of lesser quality. Currently the CDC lists two variants of drug-resistant TB: multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant. Multidrug-resistant TB is not curable with the basic antibiotics and requires prolonged treatment while extensively drug-resistant TB is resistant to first and second-line treatments. 

4.

Adverse reactions to first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs

Informa Healthcare
A study conducted by the Montreal Chest Institute out of McGill University links a variety of complications related to first-line tuberculosis treatments. Common side effects include drug-induced hepatitis, intestinal complications and bad skin reactions. Researchers say adverse effects must be recognized and dealt with quickly to reduce mortality rates associated with treatment.  Liver failure caused by hepatitis results from three first-line treatments for TB and is considered to be the most severe of side effects. The prescribed solution to a bad reaction is to discontinue treatment until side effects have gone away, to then try another assortment of antibiotics. Adverse reactions can then lead to the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains as health providers change treatments to better suit their patients' health.

5.

TB fact sheet

American Lung Association
The American Lung organization recorded a decrease in tuberculosis for the 18^th? consecutive year in 2010. Since recording TB rates began in 1953, 2010 recorded the lowest rate of tuberculosis at 3.6 cases per 100,000. Figures show 59 per cent of cases are in foreign-born nationals. The association notes there is a difference between being infected with TB and having TB disease. People infected with TB have the TB bug, however their bodies are keeping it at bay, whereas TB disease patients are showing symptoms and must be treated. Individuals can go their whole life with the virus, but never show symptoms. Groups most susceptible to contracting the disease are the homeless, the poor, those with limited medical access, people in jail or prison, nursing home residents, teachers in high-risk populations, HIV or AIDS patients, or people coming from at-risk countries.