this TB thing

[bandy]

is starting to sound strange.  is it just a distraction or is
this something that could become a common "terror
alert".  Anywhooo, I'm not buying it!  Is it just me? 
What is wrong with this picture?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

1. this strain killed 52 of 53 infected in Africa

it could be a little problem...

sP

[Bluebear]

2. Drug resistant TB is no distraction, it is quite lethal.

Only a 30% cure rate at BEST.

[NightWatcher]

3. it sounds relatively minor and contained

he's in isolation, his wife didnt catch it from him so I think that he might not have been too contagious. I think that CNN just didnt have anything else to run with today.

[KatyaR]

4. Drug-resistant TB is nothing to mess around with.

Please understand this is very difficult to treat; therefore, you want as few possibilities for infection as possible.

I believe most states have some sort of laws in place to deal with this. I imagine most of those laws date back to times when TB was much more prevalent. I know that here in Oklahoma you can be hospitalized against your will by the authorities as a public health risk if you do not follow the prescribed treatment.

My own grandmother had a slight case of TB when I was a child in the early 60s, and I remember going to see her in the "sanitorium" in Booneville, Arkansas. We met in a very large room with nothing but a free-standing glass partition between us. This was to protect from any saliva or such that might accidentally be expelled by the patient. However, this was decades before drug-resistant strains were found. I'm sure there would have been no way we could have visited her in that case.

This is a highly contagious disease that cannot be treated lightly.

[NightWatcher]

5. my step mother is a respiratory therapist and I know

I hope that it is nothing, but they seemed to over hype it. Has anyone heard of anyone else catching it?

I thought that it was ok when I heard that his wife had tested negative.

[KatyaR]

11. At this point, I don't think anyone else has been identified as being infected.

However, they're still trying to identify who might have been exposed, so they're really just in the beginning discovery phase.

As for his wife, can you be exposed and not develop TB until later? I don't know the answer to that question, but I would imagine she will still end up being put on some sort of treatment regime as a precaution.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a scary, scary story . . . .

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. The incubation period can go from 10 to 20 years

so it will be a while

Though you can develop antibodies relatively fast and receive treatment for it... which incidentally is a yaer long treatmnt and it is the best time to get treated

Before you develop the full disease

[KatyaR]

14. So this little jaunt of his could affect people for years to come--

interesting. I hope he can get that through his thick head.

[bandy]

6. I understand the implications of the decease and the conseqences

but how did he take 7 flights and our home land security was looking for him and he was like a free spirit. The whole thing sounds like a "made for TV" movie.

[NC_Nurse]

7. Drug resistant TB is scary stuff, however

it usually takes prolonged exposure to get it. OTOH, if anyone near this person is immune-suppressed, like say...a person with cancer,
or HIV positive...they could pick it up more easily.

Either way, I'd be pissed at this guy. Why couldn't he get married here? How selfish.

[bandy]

9. My thoughts too!

Why all the drama?

[pnwmom]

8. And the reason TB is again such a real threat here is because of people

not taking it seriously enough and not complying with the full course of treatment.

[mike_c]

10. extreme drug resistant TB is a very serious matter....

Luckily, the patient zero in this present case does not appear to have as infectious a strain as some that have been isolated. Still, he behaved extremely selfishly and likely put many people in very real, mortal danger.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Take an epideomology class

there are reasons why things like this ARE rare

Oh and this particular strain of TB is that deadly and that resistant to treatment