Eastern Cape
19 March 2007
Bhisho: Two more cases of killer XDR-TB have been diagnosed in the Eastern
Cape,
the provincial health department said on Monday.
Spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the two patients were diagnosed with extreme
drug resistant tuberculosis on Thursday of last week at the Jose Pearson TB
Hospital in Port Elizabeth.
The two were subsequently transferred to the Fort Grey TB hospital in East
London where they were isolated from ordinary TB patients. Forty-three patients
in the Eastern Cape have been diagnosed with the deadly strain of the
infectious disease since its emergence in the province in November 2006.
According to the department, six people have died. XDR-TB first emerged in
South Africa at Tugela Ferry in KwaZulu-Natal in 2005.
Eight new cases were diagnosed in the Eastern Cape less than a month ago but
the department said the situation was under control. "The department is on full
alert and the situation is under control as the infectious disease is not
spreading at an alarming rate in the province," Kupelo said.
Isolation wards have been set up at Jose Pearson, Fort Grey, and the Nelson
Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha. A crisis plan is in place for the Nelson
Mandela, Amathole and OR Tambo district municipalities, as these areas record a
high number of ordinary TB cases.
Patients' neglect of TB control programmes and an increase in HIV infection
levels contributed to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of TB. XDR-TB
cases are those resistant to three or more of the six second-line TB drugs.
Issued by: Department of Health, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
19 March 2007
Source: Eastern Cape Department of Health (http://www.ecdoh.gov.za/)
