CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A new, deadly strain of tuberculosis has killed 52 of 53 people infected in the last year in South Africa, the World Health Organization said Friday, calling for improved measures to treat and diagnose the virus.
"We are extremely worried about the issue of extreme drug resistance," said Paul Nunn, coordinator of the WHO's drug resistance department. "If countries don't have the diagnostic capacity to find these patients, they will die without proper treatment."
The WHO and its partners, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, planned a two-day meeting next week in South Africa to discuss the new TB strain in Africa and better ways to diagnose and treat it, Nunn said.
High mortality rates among TB patients in South Africa, however, prompted medical researchers to survey the cases and ultimately to find the new strain.
"Genetic processes are constantly throwing up mutations of tuberculosis viruses, so this may have arisen due to some particular quirk of the environment or the way they were treated or their genetic background," said Paul Fine, a professor of communicable diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Worldwide, about 2% of TB cases are classified as being extremely drug-resistant. Little information is available on extreme drug resistance in Africa, but it is believed to be increasing. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Africa also complicates the issue of treating extremely drug-resistant TB. (AP, Maria Cheng)
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Latest Stories
Transgender man Sam Nordquist tortured and killed in upstate New York
February 15 2025 7:45 PM
Army appears to make trans service ban official with social media post
February 14 2025 8:19 PM
No LGB without the T — queer community protests Trump's transgender erasure at Stonewall
February 14 2025 6:30 PM
Why LGBTQ+ groups are angry at RFK Jr.'s confirmation
February 14 2025 5:26 PM
Ohio bill would ban ejaculation without intent to conceive — with exceptions for LGBTQ+ people
February 14 2025 4:38 PM
Trump is ‘dangerously’ conflating gender-affirming care with a human rights violation
February 14 2025 12:42 PM
White House Correspondents' Association president Eugene Daniels blasts decision to block AP journalists
February 14 2025 11:39 AM
True
'Transgender' references erased from Stonewall National Monument website
February 14 2025 9:48 AM
From PEPFAR to peril, what happens when lifelines are cut?
February 14 2025 7:00 AM
Worcester: sanctuary city for the transgender community
February 13 2025 6:27 PM
Blame Mitch McConnell if you’re scared and angry
February 13 2025 5:06 PM
Federal judge orders restoration of health agency web pages
February 13 2025 5:02 PM
Kennedy Center scrubs LGBTQ+ Pride concert after Donald Trump takeover
February 13 2025 4:49 PM