The Health Blog

Recently there have been a scare about the possible transmission of an extremely resistant strain of tuberculosis to fellow flight passengers of a known patient with this disease. The whole world was scared about the news, should we be scared, too? Medical News Today answers all your questions about this disease:

1. How can an ordinary TB transformed into XDR-TB?

TB can usually be treated with a course of four standard, or first-line, anti-TB drugs. If these are misused or mismanaged, multidrugresistant TB (MDR-TB) can develop. MDR-TB takes longer to treat with second-line drugs, which are more expensive and have more side-effects. If these drugs are also misused or mismanaged, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) can develop. Because XDR-TB is resistant to first- and second-line drugs, treatment options are seriously limited and so are the chances of cure.

2. How do you develop an XDR-TB?

People who are ill with pulmonary TB (TB of the lungs, the site most commonly affected) are often infectious and can spread the disease by coughing, sneezing or simply talking, as these acts propel TB bacteria into the air. Another person breathing in these bacteria may become infected with TB but without disease; only the TB skin test becomes positive. If the bacteria overcome the body’s immune system, the person becomes ill with TB. A person ill with TB develops XDR-TB when first- and second-line anti-TB drugs are misused or mismanaged during the course of treatment and become ineffective (that is, when drugs are taken in the wrong combination, are fewer than those prescribed or taken in insufficient doses or insufficient time). People with XDR-TB can be infectious and pass the drug-resistant bacteria to other people.

3. How easily is XDR-TB spread?

There is probably no difference between the speed of transmission of XDR-TB and those of any other forms of TB. The spread of TB bacteria depends on factors such as the number and concentration of infectious people in any one place and the time of exposure, along with the presence of people with a higher risk of being infected, such as those with HIV/AIDS.

4. How easily is XDR-TB spread?

There is probably no difference between the speed of transmission of XDR-TB and those of any other forms of TB. The spread of TB bacteria depends on factors such as the number and concentration of infectious people in any one place and the time of exposure, along with the presence of people with a higher risk of being infected, such as those with HIV/AIDS.

5. Can XDR-TB be cured or treated?

Several countries with good TB control programmes have shown that up to 50-60% of affected people can be cured. Nevertheless, successful treatment also depends greatly on the extent of the drug resistance, the severity of the disease and whether the patient’s immune system is compromised.

Read more information at Medical News Today