I'm Dr. Joshua Schwimmer, a nephrologist and internal medicine physician in New York City. • Kidney Notes was the first active nephrology blog. (Trivia: Kidney Notes is so old that the National Library of Medicine still uses it as an example of how to formally cite blogs.) • Professionally, you can find me at Kidney.nyc. • Kidney Notes is for educational purposes only, not medical advice. Consult qualified health care professionals. See disclaimer.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Emergence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with Extensive Resistance to Second-Line Drugs (XDR TB)

From The CDC:
This report documents the existence of XDR TB [extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis] as a serious and emerging public health threat. Population-based surveillance data are needed to describe the magnitude and trends of XDR TB worldwide. Activities to detect drug-resistant TB accurately and rapidly and treat it effectively should be expanded, including development of international standards for SLD-susceptibility testing, new anti-TB drug regimens, and better diagnostic tests. Such measures are crucial if future generations are to be protected from XDR TB.
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