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
