GLASGOW, Scotland, Mar 21, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The United Kingdom's first
case of extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis was reported in a hospital in
Scotland, officials said.
The patient, a Somali man in his 30s, is being treated with an antibiotic
cocktail to control the resistant TB, The Guardian reported.
A spokeswoman at Gartnavel General Hospital in Glascow, Scotland, said health
officers were tracing people who may have come into close contact with the man.
Because the airborne disease is easily spread, the World Health Organization has
warned of the danger XDR-TB can pose worldwide.
XDR-TB shows resistance to both first- and second-line drugs used to treat
strains TB. Treatment can take between a year and 18 months and cost more than
$200,000 per patient, The Guardian said.
"XDR-TB is no more infectious than ordinary TB but does require different
treatment," Dr. Oliver Blatchford, a consultant with the Greater Glasgow and
Clyde public health unit, told the newspaper. "The contacts of this case are
being screened in the same way as ordinary TB contacts and will be monitored
closely to ensure that any further cases are identified early and treated
quickly."
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