The study on the Rapid impact of effective treatment on transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, detailed in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, showed that effective treatment rendered patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis rapidly noninfectious. The study used guinea pigs exposed to patients with suspected drug-resistant tuberculosis who had and hadn’t been effectively treated, with more transmission occurring among the guinea pigs exposed to patients whose treatment hadn’t been effective. The good news here is that the results underscore the importance of treatment as prevention, adding impetus to the need to scale up the search for and access to effective treatments. The results also highlight the need for quicker detection of drug resistance to make effective immediate treatment possible, and highlights the importance of improved access to appropriate care and infection control for all patients who need it, as noted in the editorial by Dr. Paul Farmer and Dr. Mario Raviglione.
Source: Science Speaks