Written By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | Published : March 13, 2018 2:19 PM IST
Image credits by: Shortage of drugs may worsen the treatment of TB patients, warns Health Ministry . © Shutterstock
Dr Shalu Verma Kumar, CORE Diagnostics says, treatment of TB is immensely possible. It requires close cooperation between the patient and the physician. The treatment lasts at least 6 months in duration but may extend to 12 months. Treatment involves taking one, or several different antibiotics. The most common antibiotics prescribed are Isoniazid (INH), Rifampin (RIF), Ethambutol, and Pyrazinamide.
For a person with latent tuberculosis, the doctor might treat you with isoniazid for at least six months. The side-effects of these drugs may include lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, skin rashes, joint pain, blurred/changed vision, ringing in ears, hearing loss etc. However, it is dangerous to discontinue your TB drugs, or not take them regularly.
The TB bacteria could continue to proliferate in your body, and even develop resistance to the prescribed drugs. Thus, drug-resistant TB evolves when you are infected with a TB strain that is resistant to one or more of the standard antibiotics. Drug-resistant TB is more frequently encountered in people who do not take their prescription drugs regularly or as prescribed, are in close contact with a patient with drug-resistant TB, have relapsed disease, or hail from areas where drug-resistant TB is common. Also read about DOTS andits 5 basic measures to deal with tuberculosis.
Patients resistant to isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) are said to harbour MDR-TB. In 2016, there were 147,000 such patients in India, with an incidence rate of 11/100000 population/year. Patients with MDR-TB are treated with several antibiotics each day for up to two years, but mortality rate in such patients remains high.
About 6.2% of MDR-TB cases worldwide have extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). Patients with XDR-TB are resistant to at least four anti-TB drugs. Such patients in addition to being resistant to INH and RIF, are resistant to fluoroquinolones (such as levofloxacin or moxifloxacin) and to at least one second-line drug (amikacin, capreomycin or kanamycin). Once treatment of such patients is initiated, isolation is usually neither necessary nor appropriate.
Tuberculosis control shall entail a sustained commitment by scientific, political and social authorities in India. It is time to tackle this scourge on a war footing. Also read 6 strategies to overcome challenges in TB treatment.
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