Martha Mendoza is a writer for the New York Times and has recently published an article about a special, highly drug-resistant case of Tuberculosis. The article focuses on the story of the man that acquired the disease, while providing innumerable details and examples about drug-resistance. This was published on December 27, 2009 and is titled, “First Case of Highly Drug-Resistant TB Found in US”. This article can be accessed from this link: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/ 12/27/health/AP-AS-MED-When-Drugs-Stop-Working-Killer-TB.html?pagewanted =3&_r=1&sq=Infectious%20Disease&st=cse&scp=11.
Bacteria resisting treatment is a growing problem and one of great concern. One cause for drug resistance is the overuse of drugs. For example, antibiotics are prescribed for almost every little thing. Because bacteria reproduce rapidly, it can evolve quickly to build up immunity towards these drugs. Another cause is the misuse of medication. If the infected does not complete its treatment, not all of the bacteria will be killed. In this case, the bacteria will multiply, mutate and reemerge as a stronger, tougher strain. Drug-resistant diseases are showing up all over the word. For instance, Cambodia is seeing new forms of Malaria and Africa is trying to fight against new forms of HIV. Now tuberculosis in the Americas has augmented this list of drug-resistant diseases by one more. It has recently been discovered that tuberculosis has built up immunity to treatment and now can be highly contagious.
A man named Oswaldo Juarez contracted a rare form of tuberculosis that most of his doctors had never even seen before, never mind know how to cure. His strain was named XXDR, which means extremely drug resistant TB. He was sent to special facilities to receive treatment and had tests done. Juarez is 19 years old and lived in Peru his whole life. He came to America as a student to study English. He was told that if he returned home, you would die within a month. He experienced many symptoms from this disease. He vomited blood, experienced wheezing fits, and every breath he took was accompanied with labor and pain. The worst part about his situation, Juarez claimed, was that he was contagious. The disease could be spread every time he coughed, sneezed, or even talked. His doctors pumped significant doses of drugs into him, hoping to find a cure. He suffered for a year and a half, living in the isolation of a tiny hospital room. Finally, he received the news that the black dot on the x-ray of his lungs was gone and he was cured. At age 21, he left the hospital and went back home to Peru.
This article provides a lot of information about why diseases are becoming more drug resistant and I agree that the public should ascertain all of the facts. Tuberculosis has been reported on all seven continents and is rapidly increasing. TB has the highest mortality rate of adults than any other infectious disease. Unfortunately, in one year, MDR (multi-drug-resistant) TB infects the bodies of 500,000 people over the planet. Drug-resistance is a growing problem and with not enough funding it is hard for scientists to come up with a new cure. I think Juarez’s case was horrible and unbelievable. Doctors said that he was one of two people to ever obtain that strain of TB and the other died. Hopefully the evolution of infectious diseases slows down in time for doctors to find new cures and new forms of diseases don’t continue to spread on a global scale.
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This was a very interesting article. Raquel did a great job explaining both multi-drug resistant bacteria, but also what causes it which I had not know before. The story about Oswaldo Juarez was really sad. I can't imagine living in a hospital room for 3 years and not be allowed to talk to people. Also it must have been scary living in another country and putting all your faith into doctors that you had never met before. Something that I am interested in learning more about is how the doctors magically cured it... finally! I think the most frightening part of this article is not that there is an extremely contagious strain of TB, but that I had never heard of these extreme cases of TB before. I can not help but to think that countries have to start focusing on other diseases that might not be at the forefront, but are very close to being just as deadly. Also I think that there has to be more awareness for other countries, so if the strain goes to that country then they might be able to be a step ahead when they are making the medicine.
ReplyDeleteThis article was extremely interesting. Raquel accounted all the details and gave specific examples of other drug resistant diseases. I also found it interesting that not only has T.B. 'returned', but there are drug resistant cases of it. T.B. is a highly contagious and deadly disease, and with a resistance to drugs, this new strand could devastate communities or nations. I wonder if the CDC has researched this new strand to create new medication before it becomes a serious issue? Raquel made a good point with the over use of antibiotics, or the misuse of antibiotics. I wonder how the doctors eventually cured him?...was it with many antibiotics or was it a certain combination of medicine that cured him? I think all other countries should be aware of this issue, and should begin to make antibiotics that can stop this new strand of T.B. Very interesting article!!
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