Untreatable TB

Quite a few years ago I heard that TB had reappeared in the UK thanks to the increase in immigration from the former Soviet Union. Now I learn that the first case of the XDR-TB strain, which kills half of those infected and is extremely resistant to drugs used to fight more common forms of the infection, has been diagnosed in a Somali man in his 30s who is in isolation at a hospital in Scotland.

Guess what, The Telegraph informs us that "It is understood the patient, thought to be an asylum seeker, was screened for infectious diseases on his arrival into Britain last year. X-rays revealed TB scarring on his lungs, but the disease was not thought to be active so he was allowed to travel to Scotland... Health officials are now trying to contact his close friends and family to prevent any further outbreaks...The first case of XDR-TB was reported in March 2006, after researchers discovered an emerging global threat of highly resistant TB strains. Six months later 53 “virtually untreatable” XDR-TB cases were found in an area of South Africa with a high prevalence of HIV."


Reassuring thought isn't it that a drug resistant strain of TB is now in the UK and that we have our wonderful border controls did nothing to prevent this.