MDR-TB deaths in Mumbai less than national average, 350 patients cured
MUMBAI: As many as 1,033 of the 7,483 people diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis in the city have died over the past five years. But with a 14% mortality rate, the city seems to have fared better than the national average of 25%.
A 2012 revelation by Mahim's PD Hinduja Hospital that 12 TB
patients were resistant to all available drugs had prompted the
BMC to step up its fight against the ailment by adding more
diagnostic and treating facilities. Two years later, it is time
to assess the efficacy of the civic body's strategies. To begin
with, of the 12 patients labelled hopelessly drug-resistant, six
are now healthy and fighting the disease well. They are among
222 patients being treated for extensively drug resistant (XDR)
TB.
Civic records also show that 349 (5.21%) patients, who have
sustained the grueling MDR-TB treatment regimen that lasts 24 to
27 months, have been cured of the disease. Currently, 3,784
patients are taking MDR-TB treatment under the Revised National
Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). This shows that the BMC
has come a long way from 2010, when barely 53 patients could be
successfully diagnosed with MDR-TB and 16 put on treatment.
Till 2012, the BMC did not have the infrastructure to diagnose
MDR-TB. "Since 2012, we have diagnosed an average of over 2,000
MDR-TB cases annually," said Dr Minnie Khetrapal, Mumbai TB
officer. "We have an encouraging cure rate but 10.7% patients
stopped treatment," said Khetarpal. Side-effects of MDR-TB
medication, apparently worse than that of XDR-TB, and toxicity
of drugs, are the major reasons for dropout.
Head of chest medicine at KEM Hospital Dr Amita Athavale said
families have to be patient as the bacteria is persistent. She
also cautioned against the labelling of every chest infection as
TB.
BMC's TB consultant Dr Arun Bamne said, "Unregulated diagnosis
in private sector and non-qualified doctors prescribing drugs
still pose a big challenge to control TB."
Source:
The Times of India
