WHO raises alarm on rise of untreatable TB

Disease experts called for decisive leadership worldwide and more research funding to fend off the “very real” risk of an untreatable strain of tuberculosis as more people develop resistance to existing drugs. Extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB, thus far reported in 84 countries, does not respond to a wide range of drugs. “The widespread emergence of XDR tuberculosis could lead to virtually untreatable tuberculosis,” wrote the authors of one study. Most needed are new drugs and better, quicker diagnostic tools. WHO says 8.7 million people fell ill with TB and 1.4 million died in 2011. Over 95 percent of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and it is among the top three causes of death for women aged 15 to 44. XDR TB requires about two years of treatment with even more expensive drugs that often cause side-effects and offer no guarantee of a cure.

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