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| Edited By: Somita Pal |Source: DNA |Updated: Jan 12, 2012, 01:22 AM IST
If last week’s DNA report on 12 cases of totally drug resistant (TDR) tuberculosis (TB) cases found in PD Hinduja hospital was alarming, there is more reason to worry. The Maharashtra State Anti-Tuberculosis Association affiliated to the directorate of health services at the Centre registered two TDR-TB cases in 2011.
Officials from Sewri hospital, one of the largest TB hospitals in Asia, are also getting several TDR-TB cases.
While the association lost touch with one of them (she migrated to an unknown city and left the treatment midway), the other needs to undergo surgery soon. A person with TB can infect 15 people a year and cause an epidemic, doctors said.
“We detected two TDR-TB cases among women in 2011. Their drug sensitivity tests showed their illness was resistant to all the available drugs. Of the two, a 15-year-old girl took treatment for a while and then migrated somewhere. The other, a 25-year-old, will have to undergo surgery as a part of her lung is infected and needs to be removed,” said Dr Yatin Dholakia, secretary and technical advisor of the association.
Doctors said the absence of a notification system for TB is a major reason for not knowing the exact number of TDR-TB cases in the city and country. They said despite the authorities talking about the gravity of the situation, there has been no solution to the problem as yet.
“The main cause of worry is the spread of TDR strains by TDR-TB patients. Such cases are a known phenomenon, but the absence of a notification system has aggravated the situation. A notification system must be brought in place immediately to ensure it does not become an epidemic,” said Dr Dholakia.
“Tuberculosis is no more a poor man’s disease. Since it is contagious and air borne, it can affect everyone, including the rich. We are seeing more and more cases of people from all parts of society suffering from TB. We need to be more cautious as there are no new medicines available for TDR-TB patients,” said Dr Zarir F Udwadia, chest physician at PD Hinduja hospital who led a TDR-TB study.
Of the 12 TDR-TB cases detected at Hinduja, a 31-year-old woman from Dharavi died in November 2011.
