New Tuberculosis Drugs May Become Ineffective: Study

A doctor examines the x-ray of a TB patient in New Delhi. Credit: Bijoyeta Das/IPS.By Lyndal RowlandsUNITED NATIONS, Mar 24 2017 (IPS)New antibiotics that could treat tuberculosis may rapidly become ineffective, according to new research published by the Lancet ahead of World Tuberculosis Day.The rise in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, which affected 480,000 people in 2015, could mean that even newly discovered drugs will soon be useless, the study found.In total both drug resistant and non-drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) killed an estimated 1.8 million people in 2015, making it the world’s deadliest infectious disease. The five countries where TB is most predominant are India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa.Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis reflects the meeting of an ancient and under-addressed disease – tuberculosis – with an emerging modern threat – antimicrobial resistance. The inappropriate use of antibiotics, including taking them without prescription or not following doctor’s orders closely is slowly rendering many antibiotics useless.“Resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs is a global problem that threatens to derail efforts to eradicate the disease,” said lead author of the Lancet report Professor Keertan Dheda from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. “People with drug resistant TB who don’t have access to the two new drugs continue to be treated with older, more toxic regimens that cure only 50 percent o...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - March 24, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Lyndal Rowlands Tags: Featured Headlines Health IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Antibiotic Resistance Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) Source Type: news