Rare TB form leaves man in hospital
A MAN is being treated in hospital for a rare form of drug-resistant tuberculosis, health chiefs.
The man, from overseas, is in isolation at Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow.
His close contacts are now being screened for evidence of infection of Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDRTB), a rare form that is resistant to the drugs routinely used to treat tuberculosis infections.
Doctors have said there is no risk to the general public.
It is first time a patient has been diagnosed with XDRTB in the UK, but health experts believe a case went undiagnosed in 2003.
Dr Oliver Blatchford, consultant in public health medicine in Glasgow, said: "It is no more infectious than ordinary TB but it does require different treatment.
"The contacts of this case are being screened in the same way as ordinary TB contacts.
"They will be monitored closely to ensure any further cases are identified and treated quickly."
Nearly nine million people a year fall ill from TB and more than one and a half million die.
The full article contains 179 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
-
Last Updated:
21 March 2008 2:07 PM
-
Source:
Edinburgh Evening News
-
Location:
Edinburgh
