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Anti-tuberculosis (TB) drug resistance is a major public health problem that threatens progress made in TB care and control worldwide.
In spite of hard efforts taken to control tuberculosis, this disease continues to be one of the major public health problems worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Currently, India records an annual incidence of 1.9 million new TB cases, accounting for one-fifths of the world's new TB cases and two-thirds of the TB cases in the South-East Asia Region. Read about challenges that treatment of TB faces in India.
As per recently published reports from India, MDR-TB has been found in 3% of new cases and in 12% of treated patients. WHO has estimated that 50 million people worldwide are infected with DR M.tb strains. Most people with tuberculosis are cured by a strictly followed, six-month drug regimen that is provided to patients with support and supervision.
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Drug resistance arises due to improper use of antibiotics in chemotherapy of drug-susceptible TB patients. This improper use is a result of a number of actions including, administration of improper treatment regimens and failure to ensure that patients complete the whole course of treatment. Read the 11 ways you can prevent tuberculosis.
Essentially, drug resistance arises in areas with weak TB control programmes. A patient who develops active disease with a drug-resistant TB strain can transmit this form of TB to other individuals. Drug resistance can be detected using special laboratory tests which test the bacteria for sensitivity to the drugs or detect resistance patterns. Solutions to control drug-resistant TB are to cure the TB patient the first time around, and to ensure the appropriate use of recommended second-line drugs.
The cost of just the drugs for treating the average multi drug resistant TB patient can be 50 to 200 times higher than the cost of treating a drug susceptible TB patient. This strongly highlights the need to make useful strategies for testing, surveillance and effective clinical management of MDR-TB cases in India. Read the 10 facts you didn't know about tuberculosis.
The patients should understand the TB medicines are to be taken for at least 6 months. Hence, It is very important that the patient should take medicine regularly under the guidance of his doctor, even though he becomes symptom-free, to prevent relapse and resistant tuberculosis.
He should refrain from alcohol, smoking and drug abuse. He must keep his other diseases like diabetes under control. He must maintain cleanliness and proper hygiene. He should avoid coughing in open and use a cloth over the mouth while coughing to prevent spread of infection. In case the patient develops vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice or joint pains, he should consult his doctor to rule out any side effects of the medicine.
Authored by Dr Manoj Goel, Director, Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Fortis Memorial Research Institute.
Image source: Getty Images
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