Extensively Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Rising (Various Sources)

Articles:

https://www.statnews.com/2017/01/18/tuberculosis-antibiotic-resistance/

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/01/18/510435545/why-is-extensively-drug-resistant-tb-on-the-rise

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/the-deadliest-form-of-tuberculosis-is-snowballing_us_59120cd9e4b05e1ca20266f0

Key Points:

Back in January, Africa was hit hard by an influx of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB)

- The New England Journal of Medicine (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1604544) showed that two thirds of this is actually due to transmission and less so inappropriate medication use. This means a majority of cases are arising when another patient is coughing and sneezing and is particularly prevalent in hospitals and doctor's offices.

- WHO estimated 1/3 of the world has latent TB and TB is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide. Those with latent TB have 1/10 chance of developing active TB at some point.

-Patients that are treated have only 1/4 chance of curing themselves according to WHO. XDR TB has a 50-80% fatality rate. Symptoms include coughing, fever, night sweats, and weight loss.