Growing resistance to TB meds

Lack of new tuberculosis medication has been blamed for increasing numbers of people dying from drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis.

People with extreme drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) were four times more likely to fail treatment than even people with multi drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), according to new research from South Korea.

XDR-TB was flagged as a serious cause for concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) two years ago over historical MDR-TB resistance.

Resistance usually occurs because of poorly managed TB care, which included incorrect prescribing, poor quality drugs, erratic supply and non-adherence by patients.

Former countries of the Soviet Union had the worst cases of XDR-TB as well as Asian nations, according to the WHO.

Associate professor at Asan Medical Center in Seoul Sun Shim, who led the study said: "Survival curves showed higher cumulative mortality among patients with XDR-TB than in other patients with MDR-TB."

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