From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Subject: Re: tuberculosis
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science
Lines: 26

In article <1993Mar29.181406.11915@iscsvax.uni.edu> klier@iscsvax.uni.edu writes:

>
>Multiple drug resistance in TB is a relatively new phenomenon, and
>one of the largest contributing factors is that people are no longer
>as scared of TB as they were before antibiotics.  (It was roughly as
>feared as HIV is now...)
>

Not that new.  20 years ago, we had drug addicts harboring active TB
that was resistant to everything (in Chicago).  The difference now
is that such strains have become virulent.  In the old days, such
TB was weak.  It didn't spread to other people very easily and just
infected the one person in whom it developed (because of non-compliance
with medications).  Non-compliance and development of resistant strains
has been a problem for a very long time.  That is why we have like 9
drugs against TB.  There is always a need to develop new ones due to
such strains.  Now, however, with a virulent resistant strain, we
are in more trouble, and measures to assure compliance may be necessary
even if they entail force.

-- 
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Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  it is shameful to surrender it too soon." 
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