Melanie Reid
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Health officials are screening the close contacts of a man who has become Britain’s first case of a virtually untreatable form of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
The man, believed to be a Somali asylum-seeker in his thirties, has a rare strain, Extremely Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB), which has a high mortality rate.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that XDR-TB accounts for possibly only 2 per cent of the 9 million cases of tuberculosis in the world, but that it poses a grave public health threat, especially in populations with high rates of HIV and where there are few healthcare resources.
Health chiefs said yesterday that close contacts of the patient, who is in isolation at Gartnavel General Hospital, Glasgow, were being screened. He has been in the hospital since January.
Dr Oliver Blatchford, consultant in public health medicine in Glasgow, said yesterday: “It is no more infectious than ordinary TB but it does require different treatment. The contacts of this case are being screened in the same way as ordinary TB contacts. They will be monitored closely to ensure that any further cases are identified early and treated quickly.”
A health board spokesman added that the man had been admitted to hospital at the end of January but was unable to give any personal details or provide information about his condition.
It is understood that the man arrived at Heathrow last November and when screened for infectious diseases was found to have TB scarring on his lungs.
The condition was not active, however, and the man told doctors he had recently had a six-month course of treatment for TB. After an immigration interview, he was allowed to go to Scotland, where the disease became reactivated.
XDR-TB poses a far greater challenge to doctors than MDR-TB (Multidrug Resistant TB), which is resistant to at least the two main first-line tuberculosis drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin. XDR-TB is a form of MDR-TB that is also resistant to three or more of the six classes of second-line drugs. Doctors can only try to contain the disease with a cocktail of second-line drugs. In some cases, part of the lung can be cut out.
This is the first case reported in Britain since the revised definition of XDR-TB was published by the World Health Oorganisation in 2006. Recent findings from a survey of data from 2000-04 found that XDR-TB had been identified in all regions of the world but was most frequent in the former Soviet Union and Asia.
Professor Peter David, the secretary of TB Alert in Britain, said that drugs could contain the disease but not cure it. Treatment takes 12-18 months and is estimated to cost more than £100,000 per patient.
Global killer
— Skeletal remains show that prehistoric human beings had the disease in 4000BC, and tubercular decay has been found in mummies from 3000-2400BC
— Two billion people, one third of the world’s population, are infected with the bacterium that causes TB
— Every 15 seconds someone dies from TB. Two million people die from it each year
— Eighty per cent of TB cases are concentrated in 22 “high-burden” developing countries, but no corner of the world is safe. The WHO declared TB a global emergency in 1992
Source: Times database
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My grandaughter wasnt given the TB jab this year, she was asked if any of her family had been abroad recently, having said no she didnt get the jab. It has now been stated in several newspapers that TB is on the increase, so why arent our kids being given the injection? After being almost eradicated why is TB on the increase? look at countries where TB is still a big problem and then look at where immigrants allowed into this country are from and you will find the answer. ust one more reason to stop immigration. Send them back to their own countries and begin to re-immunise our kids.
Patricia Kenny, Bradford , UK
Im British , female and was diagnosed with TB four years ago. I spent a year on TB therapy and am well now, although TB has left a scar on my lung & my life. What frightens me about this latest report is that in parts of the UK, especially semi rural areas, potential re-emergence of TB is not always an active concern of GP practices - my local practice dismissed my constant hacking cough , chronic fatigue and malaise as simply symptoms of a "whinging hypochondriac" . Only my own lack of faith in my GP eventually led me to hospital where I was diagnosed with chronic advanced TB of at least 3 years duration. The British government needs to implement more active screening, promote awareness in GP's to help identify carriers, and fund active district health services to ensure patients already on therapy STAY on therapy, and do not lapse, allowing TB to become drug resistant. What was a disease of the past, is now very much a threat to our present.
Vanessa Anthony, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Absolutely steve from Luon !!! What links has the UK with Somalia - is it in the Commonwealth ? What if it was the plague - how would officials react then ? Personally I can forsee a time it may come to that !!!
All for the sake of so called human rights - BALONEY !!!! Lets please have a safe and controlled immigration policy, not a free for all which appears to exsist at present !!!
Ian Payne, WALSALL,
whats he doing in the counry in the first place. First plane out ,I say. Its not a international health service, its our health service. Did he pay into the system, no he didn't.
Why don't some of those mega rich "brothers" of his look after him ?
Steve, LUON, England
So now can we stop people spitting in the streets?
Bill Glanvill, Horsham, Sussex
Deport him.
John, Lincoln,
Africa has many such people with the this untreatable TB, even South Africa, as well as other serious diseases and the former can be circulated in the air system on an aircraft. I have been writing and warning about this for over a year but the authorities do not listen and do something positive especially about the illegal immigrants who are most likely to be infected. And any illegal immigrant or one who is suspiciously so, must be sent back to where they came from on hte next aircraft, no sympathy. No medical services unless they pay for it full price. It is totally unfair to the tax payers who have worked hard for years to build the NHS. South Africa had a first class medical system, especially for Africa, but the ANC prefer to build football stadiums to hospitals; and much needed power stations.
B J Deller, Marbella, Spain
This is extremely serious - how many people has this man come into contact with? I fear that the great British public are having the wool pulled over their eyes by Dr Oliver Blatchford, when he says: âIt is no more infectious than ordinary TB but it does require different treatment".
If he arrived on a plane his germs could have been circulated around the cabin for hours, every one of the passengers could pass TB onto their family and out into the wider community.
Get serious next time it could be ebola!!
The cost of his care is just the tip of a very large iceburg.
VJB, London ,
Another example of the damage that Somalia spreads not just in the horn of Africa but across the world
John Robinson, Prestwood, UK
Oh the joys of immigration !.We had one African in Northampton with leprosy,I wonder how many people he infected,before they found him?.
Ray Barrett, Daventry, England
Send him back he is not an asylum seeker he is one of the thousand that come to England for free medical care every year.
No wonder the NHS is screwed, you do not need health insuance travelling inthe uk, just turn up at a hospital, have an operation, baby anything, they do not ask for your insurance forms for foriegners... Easy touch
I have worked in hospitals, and have seen thisdaily occurance, when are we going to wake up and start charging, like very other medical service for non nationals...
darren, London, England
This man new very well what his problem was, and sort the best way to deal with the situation. He sort a country with laws that allow any old rubbish to come here. There used to be an actor on TV who said' We are doomed, I tell you doomed' and how right he was. We are doomed in this country, well and truly doomed. We will not be able to recognize where we live in 50 years. Doomed I tell you, doomed.
victor arram, westcliff,
Interntational Health Service to the rescue. No wonder taxes keep on going up to feed this bottomless pit
steve tea, manchester, cheshire
Why misuse language so badly with a hyperbolic headline - sadly before antibiotics all cases of TB in Britain were untreatable and many people died of it.
Richard, Newton Abbot,
There are 4 drugs for treating TB. The misuse (not taking all the medicine, just stopping when the majority of symptoms went away) has led to various strains of TB with various drug resistances. This strain is one of the few that has picked up tolerance for all 4 drugs. This indiviual is a serious health threat. He is a carrier (and potential distributor) of a disease that is spread somewhat easily and has no treatment venue. The return of TB due to these drug resistances has been the topic of health departments for more than a few years now. TB tends to leave most with a normal immune system and a good constitution with no major long term effects. It does have a harder bite on the elderly, the immuno-compromised, and those of poor constitution (the poor, the ill, the sick, and the elderly) in general.
Wes Byrd, Iowa City, Iowa USA
Yet another reason to end this immigration madness, our culture, our whole way of life is being deliberately and systematically destroyed by these reckless cretins who have bluffed their way into Parliament with no intention whatsoever of serving the Electorate, only to treat us all with utter contempt as they line their grubby pockets with OURmoney.
'Off with their heads!'
Clive Burghard LANCING, LANCING, ENGLAND
Just get rid of this fellow back where he came from,
asylum - seeker bringing gifts to Britain. Wonder how many he has already infected?
Barry Holmes, Christchurch, New Zealand
You know, I'm 15 and last year my year in school were the first to be decided not to be given the TB jab as apparently 'TB figures have dropped and it is now unneeded', or something along those lines. I'm not so sure now. Especially with so many immigrants coming over to this country! I certainly feel it was needed.
Sasha, Salford, UK