Tuberculosis: A new pandemic? - CNN.com

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Many people think of tuberculosis as being a disease from the past. The truth is far from it: Tuberculosis is mutating into dangerous new strains for which there is no known cure.

XDR-TB stands for extensively drug-resistant TB. The drug resistant strand is a highly contagious airborne disease. With increased travel and globalization, it is possible for anyone to pick up the disease, even in developed countries like the U.S. and UK.

Unlike less virulent strains, XDR-TB does not respond to the antibiotics that are usually used to treat TB. The disease is virtually incurable and threatens to become a pandemic.

Award-winning photojournalist James Nachtwey, who has chronicled the death and devastation the disease is bringing to many countries around the world, describes XDR-TB as "a merciless, man-eating predator lurking in the shadows." Nachtwey, who has been covering humanitarian crises for more than 30 years, was awarded a TED prize in 2007 which gave him $100,000 and one wish to change the world.

Health experts say that the tragic thing about XDR-TB is that it should not exist. TB in itself is curable. But if anti-TB drugs are not properly administered or used, the disease can mutate into deadlier strands such as XDR.

And the life-saving drugs used to treat regular TB only cost $20 per patient in the developing world, according to the WHO.

But there haven't been enough funds raised to combat the disease, which is strongly linked to poverty.

Many people think of tuberculosis as being a disease from the past. The truth is far from it: Tuberculosis is mutating into dangerous new strains for which there is no known cure.

XDR-TB stands for extensively drug-resistant TB. The drug resistant strand is a highly contagious airborne disease. With increased travel and globalization, it is possible for anyone to pick up the disease, even in developed countries like the U.S. and UK.

Unlike less virulent strains, XDR-TB does not respond to the antibiotics that are usually used to treat TB. The disease is virtually incurable and threatens to become a pandemic.

Award-winning photojournalist James Nachtwey, who has chronicled the death and devastation the disease is bringing to many countries around the world, describes XDR-TB as "a merciless, man-eating predator lurking in the shadows." Nachtwey, who has been covering humanitarian crises for more than 30 years, was awarded a TED prize in 2007 which gave him $100,000 and one wish to change the world.

Health experts say that the tragic thing about XDR-TB is that it should not exist. TB in itself is curable. But if anti-TB drugs are not properly administered or used, the disease can mutate into deadlier strands such as XDR.

And the life-saving drugs used to treat regular TB only cost $20 per patient in the developing world, according to the WHO.

But there haven't been enough funds raised to combat the disease, which is strongly linked to poverty.

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http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/tb.pandemic/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/tb.pandemic/index.html