Woman with Rare Form of Tuberculosis Being Treated in Maryland
Woman with Rare Form of Tuberculosis Being Treated in Maryland – A woman who arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from India in April and then traveled to Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee, is said to be suffering from a rare form of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB).
According to Tom Skinner, spokesman for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the woman is in a stable condition at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Maryland. She was initially kept isolated at a Chicago hospital. Health officials are now trying to track down people who may have had contact with her and been exposed to the disease.
Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease that affects the lungs. The disease spreads from person to person through particles released via coughing and sneezing. Once eradicated in developed countries, TB showed up again in the US in the mid-1980s. The US introduced strong measures to control the disease and it started decreasing again in the 1990s.
Many strains of TB that are currently active are resistant to antibiotic drugs, and those suffering from the disease need to be treated with a combination of medications.
Category: News
