Drug-Defying Tuberculosis Reaches Record Levels, Report Says
February 09, 2012, 4:13 PM ESTBy Simeon Bennett
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Drug-resistant tuberculosis rose to record levels in 2007-2010, and the highest prevalence was found in parts of eastern Europe and central Asia, a study found.
In Russia’s Murmansk region, the treatment-defying strain of the disease accounted for 29 percent of new and previously treated cases, and in Moldova it was 65 percent, researchers from the World Health Organization wrote in the agency’s Bulletin.
Global trends in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis remain unclear because data are lacking from large countries including India and several African nations, said the researchers, who surveyed 80 countries and eight territories.
--Editors: Kristen Hallam, Robert Valpuesta
To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Geneva at sbennett9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net
