4th Post

This week I read an article in Time magazine on tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that affected 9.2 million people in 2005, and killed 1.7 million. The more dangerous part is that drug-resistant strains of TB are showing up in developing countries like Russia, India, and China. While these strains only make up 5%, or half a million cases, they are mushrooming. This disease is also producing multi-drug resistant cases. It does succumb to powerful medications, but the countries that need them most don't have them. And even when those who need it have it, it is poorly used and the patients aren't responsibly taking their necessary daily medicine. This medication must be taken every day for six months to fully eradicate the infection from the body. The World Health Organization has suggested implementing a new, more rapid TB test. This probably won't go to work in most countries, because they need the lab upgrades that are difficult to afford in the areas where TB is most prevalent. Doctors say that this disease is fully treatable and preventable, but some areas are unable to receive the necessary equipment to treat TB. TB has been a killer for over thousands of years, yet an antibiotic-based treatment has only been around for decades, but the bacillus itself had been identified only a century ago.