![Preventing Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis]()
Efforts to prevent extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) from spreading have traditionally relied on improving patient treatment. But a study co-authored by James Brust, M.D., and published in the January 18 online issue of The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that efforts to halt TB transmission in hospitals and community settings may be a better strategy. The study, conducted with collaborators at Emory University, the U.S. CDC, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, enrolled 404 TB patients from South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. All had XDR-TB, meaning their infections were resistant to at least four first-line and second-line TB drugs. South Africa is experiencing a widespread epidemic of XDR-TB, and many people there are co-infected with HIV, which weakens their immunity. The study found that transmission of XDR-TB was responsible for at least 69 percent of cases. By contrast, only 31 percent of cases involved patients who developed XDR-TB during treatment. Dr. Brust is an associate professor of medicine.
Posted on: Friday, January 20, 2017