The new, soon-to-be-released TB drugs have been specifically developed to address drug-resistant strains, but experts warn that without proper disease management, patients will become resistant to the new treatments before they can do much good.

Some Indian news reports have criticized the Mumbai clinic for causing unnecessary panic, but the fact that it is identifying and reporting such cases is a good sign, Cegielski says. "In the past 10 years, there has been this tidal wave of developing countries discovering drug-resistant TB cases," he adds. The problem itself is not new, but now it is better documented thanks to increased awareness and improved access to drug-resistant screening technologies. "There are still probably more cases of highly drug-resistant tuberculosis than we know about," Cegielski says.

Tuberculosis may not be as pressing a concern in the U.S., where in 100,000 people there are only about 3.6 cases (pdf), compared with 280 in Southeast Asia and 450 in Africa, according to WHO. But in the age of drug-resistant TB, every nation is vulnerable. As the nonprofit Stop TB Partnership said in a recent campaign, "TB anywhere is TB everywhere."

5 Comments

1. 1. marynmck 02:15 PM 1/30/12

   Calling Hinduja Hospital a "clinic" without otherwise identifying it casts doubt on its veracity, as if it were a street-front or primary-care clinic — but it's one of the WHO reference labs for India.

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2. 2. tucanofulano 05:46 PM 1/30/12

   Should we be worried that illegal aliens invading and residing in our country bring with them all the plagues and diseases known to mankind, and more ? You bet. The only cure is to actively enforce current laws vigorously 24/7 without any more of the boo-hoo sob stories the left-wing media loves to portray. We take care of murderers, thieves, and other criminals, so why not these criminals ?

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3. 3. alan6302 10:15 PM 1/30/12

   I have seen Indian doctors at work

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4. 4. kgbrown 03:17 PM 2/4/12

   There's no way to seal our borders effectively enough to prevent disease transmission in or out of the country. Supporting WHO DOTS (Direct Observation Treatment Short Course)strategy of control of tuberculosis is the best option, both economically and ethically, read more about the program at http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section10/Section2097/Section2106_10678.htm
   Tuberculosis could easily become a problem again in the US if DOTS-like programs for testing and treating the public don't get the support they need. Without political will, these programs get defunded and public health suffers.

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5. 5. Michael M 05:14 PM 7/10/12

   Somehwere in the range of 8% of US residents test positive for TB. Of these perhaps the same percentage will develop the disease. That will be about 1/2 f one percent of the populace.
   
   Some Asian nations have around 80% of the populace giving positive antibody tests.
   
   Apparently, about 1/3 of humans have been exposed, and TB is the world's second greatest infectious killer, after HIV.
   
   It takes very few TB bacteria to infect, but immune deficiency is a large factor in whether an individual will develop active TB.
   
   Xenophobia and labeling of others as, for instance, liberal, is merely injecting one's personal terror into a discussion, attempting to validate it through thinly disguised (or, rather, undisguised)hate speech.
   
   Such comment is inappropriate for any subject of any concern whatsoever.

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