Resistant (XDR)
12 April 2007
Bhisho: A 47-year-old man has died of extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis
(XDR TB) in the Eastern Cape bringing the number of deaths to 14 since
November, the provincial Department of Health said on Thursday.
Department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the patient died at the Jose Pearson
TB Hospital in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.
"This brings the number of XDR TB deaths now to 14," he said.
XDR TB was first identified in South Africa last year, emerging first in
KwaZulu-Natal.
Kupelo said all the isolation wards at the hospitals were running smoothly
and there was no risk of the disease spreading.
"I need to emphasise that the fact that the numbers are going up does not
suggest that the situation is getting out of hand. The situation remains under
control and all the necessary precautions have been taken," he said.
Meanwhile, the Department has rejected reports by employees at Jose Pearson
Hospital that XDR TB patients were walking freely around the hospital and that
two nurses had died after contracting TB while on duty.
Kupelo said Department senior officials visited the hospital's three
isolation wards on Wednesday and found that "none of these reported
fabrications can be confirmed."
"One of the nurses died from natural causes not related to TB and the other
one was diagnosed with TB in 1999 before joining the hospital," said
Kupelo.
He said stakeholders like the Democratic Nurses Organisation of South Africa
(DENOSA) had purported to confirm the "faceless" reports.
He urged them to engage with the Department on health concerns instead of
"shouting from the rooftops and grossly exaggerating facts in the process."
The provincial Department of Health has funded R180 million for the current
financial year. This funding will go to the Nelson Mandela, Amathole and OR
Tambo district municipalities.
"These areas were identified as recording a high number of ordinary TB cases
in the province," he said.
On March 24, acting Health Minister Jeff Radebe announced R3,6 million in
funding for infection control measures in all health facilities across the
country.
Issued by: Department of Health, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
12 April 2007
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za/)
