‘Game changer’ Tuberculosis Drug Cures 9 in 10

Doctors have found a new treatment for a drug-resistant sprain of tuberculosis as a “game changer’’ which can cure more than 90 percent of sufferers, according to a trial. Doctors in Belarus — a country with one of the highest rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in the world — spent months treating patients with a new drug, bedaquiline, alongside other antibiotics.

The World Health Organization says, presently only 55 percent of people with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are effectively treated. Since WHO says variants of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis have been reported in at least 117 countries around the world, this is a dire issue we need to handle.

Belarus Trial Success

The results, seen exclusively by AFP, were startling: Of the 181 patients given the new drug, 168 were totally cured. The Belarus trial success rate which is 93 percent — was mostly simulated in bedaquiline trials in other countries in Eastern Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia, according to abstracts seen by AFP, due to exposed at a major tuberculosis conference later this week.

What other Scientists Say

Paula Fujiwara, scientific director of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease who was not involved in the research told that the results from this study verify that newer drugs like bedaquiline can heal and are game changers for people living with multidrug-resistant and extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis. She further said that normally our study confirms the usefulness of bedaquiline in preceding clinical trials, and does not prove the concerns about safety problems.

Statistics of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis killed at least 1.7 million people in 2017, according to the WHO, making the airborne infection the world’s deadliest catching disease. It kills more than three times as many people as malaria every year and is accountable for the bulk of HIV/AIDS deaths. In spite of the enormous death excise, tuberculosis receives approximately a tenth of the worldwide research funding that goes to HIV/AIDS.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is resistant to two of the most common antibacterial drugs used to treat the disease. Experts consider it is scattering worldwide due to unfortunate management of tuberculosis cases.

Future

Contrasting former global killers such as HIV, tuberculosis is curable — however at this time only below a strict six-month administered schedule involving multiple daily drug doses.In many parts of the world medications are improperly stored, or simply run out before the treatment has ended, leading to greater drug conflict, especially in crowded settings such as prison and hospitals.

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