TB Patient Sparks Public Health Scare
Science
Developing New Drugs for Infectious Disease()
June 15, 2007 A man infected with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis remains in isolation in a Denver hospital, preparing to undergo surgery to treat his illness. One of his doctors discusses plans for treating him, his prognosis, and the state of new drug development for infectious diseases.
Science
Genetic Analysis Helps Track TB Infection Chain()
June 13, 2007 CDC scientists tracing tuberculosis cases use genetic analysis to hunt for a chain of transmission they might not catch through traditional shoe-leather epidemiology. The method has real benefits: They found that several apparently unrelated cases were traceable to a bar that all of the TB patients had frequented.
Science
CDC Sends Nurses Home with Some TB Patients()
June 13, 2007 Tuberculosis patients who don't have private doctors to oversee therapy, or who seem unlikely to take pills with unpleasant side effects for several months, get daily visits from a nurse who watches them take the medicine in their homes.
U.S.
Arizona TB Patient Jailed as a Public Health Menace()
June 11, 2007 Robert Daniels is locked up in a bare room in the jail unit of a hospital in Phoenix. Daniels has extensively drug-resistant TB and mishandled his treatment. He is now forced to stay in the hospital until he's no longer contagious.
Health
Man Spent Three Years in Treatment to Beat TB()
June 9, 2007 The number of cases of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis has been increasing, some due to treatment failure and others because of direct transmission. Paul Thorn became infected with drug-resistant TB during a hospital stay and was treated for three years before he was cured.
Health
TB Patient, Officials Testify with Differing Accounts()
June 7, 2007 Capitol Hill held hearings Wednesday on TB patient Andrew Speaker's transatlantic trips last month, which had sparked an international public health scare. While the hearings provided some answers, there are still major discrepancies between Speaker's account and that of health officials.
U.S.
Congress Examines Flaws in Tuberculosis Response()
June 6, 2007 House and Senate committees Wednesday had hearings on how an Atlanta lawyer with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis managed to travel out of the country and back.
Health Care
Congress to Hold Hearings on TB Patient Speaker()
June 5, 2007 Two congressional committees will have hearings Wednesday on federal officials' handling of a patient with a rare and deadly form of tuberculosis. The alert system failed to prevent Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker from leaving and re-entering the country via crowded trans-Atlantic airliners.
Science Out Of The Box
TB Bug Slow to Replicate()
June 2, 2007 This week's bizarre news of a transatlantic traveler with tuberculosis raised questions about the microbe that causes the disease. In our regular segment "Science Out of the Box," Dr. Richard Chaisson of Johns Hopkins University explains that the TB bacterium is very slow to replicate, and this slows diagnosis, treatment and research.
Analysis
Stopping TB at the Border: What Went Wrong()
June 2, 2007 An American man infected with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis was able to fly to and from Europe, and then drive into the United States over the Canadian border. European authorities were unable to detain him; border guards near upstate New York didn't stop him from re-entering the United States.
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