WHO: Tuberculosis cases rise for the first time in years

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

GENEVA (AP) — The number of people infected with tuberculosis, including the kind resistant to drugs, rose globally for the first time in years, according to a report Thursday by the World Health Organization.

The U.N. health agency said more than 10 million people worldwide were sickened by tuberculosis in 2021, a 4.5% rise from the year before. About 1.6 million people died, it said. WHO said about 450,000 cases involved people infected with drug-resistant TB, 3% more than in 2020.

Dr. Mel Spigelman, president of the non-profit TB Alliance, said more than a decade of progress was lost when COVID-19 emerged in 2020.

“Despite gains in areas like preventative therapy, we are still behind in just about every pledge and goal regarding TB,” Spigelman said.



FILE - A relative adjusts the oxygen mask of a tuberculosis patient at a TB hospital on World Tuberculosis Day in Hyderabad, India, March 24, 2018. The number of people infected with tuberculosis, including the kind resistant to drugs, rose globally for the first time in years, according to a report issued Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022 by the World Health Organization. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A., File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-pandemics-covid-world-organization-tuberculosis-a446ab60cbb40dac92dcbd956303cbc1

[CJW]

1. Tuberculosis

This is really scary.

[GB_RN]

2. When I Was In Nursing School...

India was one of the places that TB was bad, and that was only 8 years ago. They were already seeing cases rise, reporting increases in the number of not just multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB - which means it's immune to front line therapy (rifampin and isoniazid in combination), but also reported seeing some cases of extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB, which means it's immune to second line therapy (fluoroquinolones and other, high end, second line injectable antibiotics).

The map data in this article are old, as the article itself is from 2015, but they still give you an idea as to the scale of the problem. The data from India aren't country wide, either. However, you can see that China's rate of MDR-TB isn't good, and Russia's is off the charts...

For clarification, a second line antibiotic therapy is the one we use when front line therapy fails: It's stronger and we don't want to use them because that INCREASES the odds of creating drug resistance if the course of therapy isn't completed. Multiple factors have led to the rise of DR bacteria. These include over prescribing (giving antibiotics as prophylaxis for a viral infection, for example), and not completing the prescribed course of treatment. Also, in many developing countries, antibiotics can be purchased over the counter, like aspirin. Brazil is one of these countries, I know. India might be one, but I'm not sure.

We have trouble getting people to complete their course of treatment for TB here in the US because it's a SIX month regimen of rifampin and isoniazid. Many people start to feel better, and quit taking their meds. Of course, this also happens with a two week Rx of amoxicillin for a sinus infection...

[Drum]

5. 👆 Thank you!

[CJW]

3. Thanks, GB ...

Thanks for all this information!

[GB_RN]

6. No Worries.

@Drum, & CJW, glad I could provide some useful info.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. One more reason to keep wearing a mask. ❤️

[Genki Hikari]

9. At this rate

I may never go out in public without one ever again.

[SoBlueInFL]

10. 2nd. It's beginning to seem far too risky.

[littlemissmartypants]

11. In March 2023 it will be three years of consistent masking with the exception of once

when I went to the vet to pick up medicine for my dog. I didn't stay long. Luckily, I survived that experience. I have stocked up on tests so I'm ready. I'm such a loner/introvert that I haven't really missed socializing at all. ❤️

[SoBlueInFL]

12. I've missed live music more than anything. We always went to r/o

Sunday Socials at The Frog Pond at Blue Moon Farm in Silverhill AL. It was so much fun but the idea of sitting close to people makes me nervous. Half the fun was the potluck and sitting around drinking beer/wine with everyone while listening. Masks eliminate the food and drink. Maybe one day. Eventually.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. That looks like so much fun!

I used to volunteer for a couple of causes but quit when the new president of one said, after she had her first vaccine, she had gone back to normal activities. That they weren't enforcing any "ridiculous restrictions." I watched as community threat levels went higher and higher.

They had a series of dances, no masks and kids crafts nights, no masks. She eventually got very sick along with her grandchildren. Now the organization is closed, indefinitely. Completely avoidable and so sad!

It's a shame that there are so many among us that are reckless with such laissez-faire attitudes about the value of human life. Additionally, so many people who are selfish and stupid. Which has proven to be a deadly combination.

Keep the faith, SoBlueInFL. This too shall pass. Stay encouraged.


❤️ pants

[SoBlueInFL]

14. Thank you & you, too.

[ck4829]

7. Bad news

[zanana1]

8. Great.

Something else to worry about.

[dembotoz]

15. so 40 years ago my wife developed atypical tb

while getting chemo for leukemia
took a while to figure out what it was an then to find which antibiotics would fight it.

the antibiotics were ototoxic....so she went deaf...
It also ravaged her lung so much one had to be removed.

the long and the short was due to tb and the infections that followed she was no longer a candidate for bone marrow transplant.

the death certificate could have really been multiple choice but the tb was a nail in the coffin.....

this is nasty shit