Researchers have developed medications with deal with resistant forms of TB that could not be treated with 1st line medications isoniazid and rifampicin, but the emerging XDR-TB is defined as TB that is resistant to any fluoroquinolone, and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (capreomycin, kanamycin, and amikacin). [1]

XDR-TB has developed due to poor health infrastructure and non-compliance by patients taking medications. When a TB patient doesn’t complete a proper course of medication, it gives the TB bacteria a chance to evolve protections from the medicines. That’s why your doctor and pharmacist give you firm reminders to finish the entire course of antibiotics even if you aren’t sick anymore.

While HIV/AIDS grabs all the headlines, hopefully some of those big time donations go towards improving overall health infrastructure such as TB treatment/containment. As Paul Sommereld of TB Alert (a British TB charity group) put it: “XDR TB is very serious – we are potentially getting close to a bacteria that we have no tools, no weapons against.” [2]

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

Sources:
1. XDR-TB – Frequently Asked QuestionsWorld Health Organization

2. “Virtually untreatable” TB found, BBC article