World Tuberculosis Day was marked here today with the theme ‘Wanted: leaders for a TB-free world’. “It is an effort to end TB,” said Dr Kedar Narsingh KC, director at National Tuberculosis Center. To meet the Sustainable Development Goals, Nepal has to eradicate TB by 2030, however, increasing cases of multi-drug resistant TB have turned…
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If you are pregnant and have active TB, you should start treatment as soon as TB is suspected. Although the TB drugs used during treatment cross the placenta, they do not appear to have any harmful effects on the fetus. TB medications such as isoniazid, rifampin, and ethambutol are often used for treatment during pregnancy.…
Read MoreThe most important thing a person can do to prevent the spread of MDR-TB is to take all their medications exactly as prescribed by their health-care provider. No doses should be missed and treatment should never be stopped early. Patients should tell their health-care provider if they are having trouble taking the medications. If patients…
Read MoreBoth MDR and XDR-TB can only be diagnosed in a well-equipped laboratory. Symptoms of XDR-TB are no different from ordinary TB: a cough with thick, cloudy mucus (or sputum), sometimes with blood, for more than 2 weeks; fever, chills, and night sweats; fatigue and muscle weakness; weight loss; and in some cases shortness of breath…
Read MoreExtensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a rare type of MDR-TB that is resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, plus any fluoroquinolone and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (i.e. amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin). Because XDR-TB is resistant to the most potent TB drugs, patients are left with treatment options that are much less effective.…
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