What happens if TB becomes drug resistant?
What happens if TB becomes drug resistant?
Sometimes drug-resistant TB occurs when bacteria become resistant to the drugs used to treat TB. This means that the drug can no longer kill the TB bacteria. Drug-resistant TB (DR TB) is spread the same way that drug-susceptible TB is spread. TB is spread through the air from one person to another.
How many TB cases are drug resistant?
Of the estimated 480,000 cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB, approximately 10% are either extensively drug-resistant (XDR)—with additional resistance to second-line drugs—or totally drug resistant. While TB is curable when patients adhere to the treatment regimen, MDR- and XDR-TB are more problematic.
Why is TB becoming resistant to antibiotics?
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics, limiting the number of compounds available for treatment. This intrinsic resistance is due to a number of mechanisms including a thick, waxy, hydrophobic cell envelope and the presence of drug degrading and modifying enzymes.
Is there a cure for drug resistant tuberculosis?
Regular TB takes about six to nine months to cure, with four antibiotics daily. Drug-resistant TB takes about two years to cure, and the treatment is much rougher. The drugs are more toxic, and only about 50 percent of people recover.
How long is treatment for MDR-TB?
MDR- and XDR-TB need prolonged treatment duration, from 18 to 24 months after sputum culture conversion, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) [2]. A prolonged duration of treatment may lead to poor adherence, higher cost and undue toxicity.
What factors contribute to the spread of drug resistant TB?
The spread of drug resistance stems from many factors: poor public health infrastructure (e.g., delays in the diagnosis of drug resistance, inconsistencies in TB medication supply), inadequate treatment (e.g., unmonitored therapy, nonadherence, incorrect use of anti-TB agents), inefficient infection control, and the …
Is there a vaccine for tuberculosis?
Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease. This vaccine is not widely used in the United States, but it is often given to infants and small children in other countries where TB is common. BCG does not always protect people from getting TB.
WHO TB drug resistant?
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of tuberculosis (TB) infection caused by bacteria that are resistant to treatment with at least two of the most powerful first-line anti-TB medications (drugs), isoniazid and rifampin….Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
| Multidrug-resistance tuberculosis | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Infectious disease |
Why is tuberculosis so difficult to treat explain?
Scientists have assumed that mycobacteria are so hard to kill because dormant cells exist even in patients with active disease and these cells are far less susceptible to antibiotics than metabolically active bacteria.
How long is treatment for MDR TB?
What drugs are used to treat TB resistant?
What are the treatment options for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)?
- A fluoroquinolone: levofloxacin or moxifloxacin preferred.
- Bedaquiline.
- Linezolid.
- Clofazimine (available only through Investigational New Drug application through FDA)
- Cycloserine.
- An aminoglycoside: streptomycin or amikacin preferred.
- Ethambutol.