- Hello Jeff - She was diagnosed in India with MDR TB but
flew home on an international flight anyway. She deserves a
fine of thousands of dollars and if ANYONE on the flights take ill, she
should be liable. Airline passengers are a GRAVE risk now, more than ever.
They DESERVE to be given every safety precaution. I am very, very concerned
about TB. We may have to force airlines to do something. If someone is
diagnosed oversees, their passport should be held and the embassy should
become involved until a safe travel mode can be arranged. Something must
be done. I wonder if she was traveling "HOME" to India to visit
relatives.
-
- Look at the story of the New York man who went to Pakistan
and was exposed to the fatal bird flu which killed two of his brothers.
He was allegedly treated with Tamiflu there but then jumped on a plane
and flew right back to New York. We KNOW Tamiflu can produce false negatives
in H5N1 testing. When the next world pandemic hits, it will be spread
by the airlines...count on it.
-
- We are fortunate this TB-infected woman was too sick
to venture out for Christmas Shopping. The fact that she is acutely ill
suggests she is she is somewhere midway in the disease process and not
newly-infected. That is bad news for the other passengers. It doesn't
say that she was coughing in the plane but, if she was too sick to go shopping,
you can bet she was doing some coughing. However, the New Delhi airport
folks just let her pass walk right on the flight.
-
- Patty
-
-
-
- CA Woman Traveler Diagnosed With MDR TB -
Held In Hospital Isolation
- NewsLocale.org
- 12-29-7
-
- A 30-year-old woman from California has been diagnosed
with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and kept in an isolation unit at
the Stanford Hospital since December 19. According to reports, the woman,
whose name has not been revealed, was diagnosed suffering from the disease
during her recent visit to India and flew back home in a commercial passenger.
According to the authorities, they are at their wits end how the woman
was allowed to travel by an international airlines with such a deadly disease
that is highly contagious.
-
- Amazingly, though the woman took the American Airlines
Flight 293 from New Delhi to Chicago's O'Hare airport on December 13, she
did not report for further treatment until December 19 when she approached
the Stanford emergency center for medical help.
-
- While this is contrary to the rules that state that tuberculosis
is a reportable disease in the US, the authorities now stress that all
the passengers traveling with her in the same row of the aircraft need
to be examined. Health officials in the US have already identified 44 passengers
from 16 states who sat within two rows of the woman in the American Airlines
Flight 293 and now the Centers for Disease Control is trying to contact
all passengers who might have been exposed to the TB.
-
- Meanwhile, authorities said that it is fortunate that
the woman could not venture out for Christmas shopping owing to her acute
illness. Had she been out, many others would have been affected by the
deadly form of tuberculosis, they said. The health authorities have said
that though the woman has been kept in isolation her condition was stable.
They said that they have adopted all the precautions to protect the woman
as well as the general public from the disease.
-
- It may be mentioned here that cases of tuberculosis is
rare in the US and multi-drug resistant TB even rarer. People affected
by the disease require a minimum of two weeks' hospitalization and may
have to undergo treatment for a period between nine months to two years.
-
- The latest case of XDR-TB follows a May case about Andrew
Speaker who developed the condition, but was ultimately found to be infected
with a milder strain.
-
- Basically Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by Mycobacterium
tuberculosis that spread from person to person through the air. The organs
most affected are the lungs although kidneys, bones and the stomach are
also affected. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) is resistant
to the most powerful first-line and second-line drugs used for treating
tuberculosis, according to the CDC.
-
- Below are some questions and answers on the latest TB
scare as well as measures advised by the CDC with respect to the infection.
-
- How does XDR TB spread?
-
- Extensively drug resistant tuberculosis spreads from
person to person through air. The mode of transmission is usually through
vapor droplets. The CDC says that when an infected person coughs, sneezes,
speaks, or sings, he can pass on the germs that cause tuberculosis. People
who breathe in this germ-filled air are at a high risk of getting infected.
-
- What are the symptoms of XDR TB?
-
- Infected patients experience sickness or weakness, weight
loss, fever, and night sweats.
-
- What preventive measures can be taken to avoid getting
infected with XDR TB?
-
- According to the CDC fact sheet, it is best to avoid
close contact or spend a long time with a TB patient. Additional preventive
measures can include staying healthy because if you are prone to infections,
you can easily catch the TB germs.
-
- How prevalent is XDR TB in the United States?
-
-
- Between 1993 to 2006 some 49 cases of documented XDR
TB infections have been identified in the United States, according to the
CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination.
-
- Overall the powerful TB drugs like rifampicin and isoniazid
have drastically reduced the number of TB cases in the country. Last year
13,767 cases of all TB were documented in the US.
-
- What is the situation on a global basis?
-
- Around 1.6 million people succumb to tuberculosis annually.
The situation is particularly worse in Africa where drug resistance is
at an all time high.
-
- How is XDR TB treated?
-
- The treatment usually consists of four to five drugs
and sometimes patients require extensive surgery as well. "Successful
outcomes depend greatly on the extent of the drug resistance, the severity
of the disease, and whether the patient's immune system is weakened,"
according to the CDC.
-
- How much time does it take to diagnose if I have XDR
TB?
-
-
- Final diagnosis for TB, and especially for XDR TB, may
take from 6 to 16 weeks although tuberculosis can be confirmed much earlier.
This is because the sputum must be cultured in a lab to determine if the
case is of a drug resistant TB.
-
- How is the World Health Organization addressing this
issue?
-
-
- According to information available on the WHO website,
a program called DOTS-Plus was initiated in 1998.
-
- In 1999, WHO established the Working Group on DOTS-Plus
for MDR-TB. The aims of the working group are to approve, conduct, and
oversee pilot projects based on the Guidelines for Establishing DOTS-Plus
Pilot Projects for the Management of MDR-TB prepared by the Scientific
Panel of the Working Group.
-
- The above article is for information purposes only. Newslocale.org
is not liable in any way for information displayed from third-parties or
otherwise. If further information is needed, please contact a competent
medical professional.
-
- http://www.newslocale.org/health/hnews/california_woman_
- with_multi-drug_resistant_tb_isolated_20071229843.html
-
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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