12 Mai 2016
|12 May 2016 - GENEVA – New World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations aim to speed up detection and improve treatment outcomes for multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) through use of a novel rapid diagnostic test and a shorter, cheaper treatment regimen.
This test yields results in just 24-48 hours, down from the 3 months or longer currently required. The much faster turnaround time means that MDR-TB patients with additional resistance are not only diagnosed more quickly, but can quickly be placed on appropriate second-line regimens. WHO reports that fewer than 20% of the estimated 480 000 MDR-TB patients globally are currently being properly treated.
The MTBDRsl test is also a critical prerequisite for identifying MDR-TB patients who are eligible for the newly recommended shorter regimen, while avoiding placing patients who have resistance to second-line drugs on this regimen (which could fuel the development of extensively drug-resistant TB or XDR-TB).
“We hope that the faster diagnosis and shorter treatment will accelerate the much-needed global MDR-TB response,” said Dr Karin Weyer, Coordinator of Laboratories, Diagnostics and Drug Resistance, WHO Global TB Programme. “Anticipated cost-savings from the roll out of this regimen could be re-invested in MDR-TB services to enable more patients to be tested and retained on treatment.”
WHO is working closely with technical and funding partners to ensure adequate resources and support for the uptake of the rapid test and shorter, cheaper regimen in countries.
Quick facts
· Resistance to standard TB drugs exists in most countries worldwide. Drug resistance, fuelled by inadequate treatment, can spread through the air, from person to person, in the same way as drug-susceptible TB.
· Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is caused by TB bacteria that are resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most effective TB drugs. Based on figures from 2014, the latest year for which data are available, WHO estimates that 5% of TB cases are multidrug-resistant. This translates into 480 000 cases and 190 000 deaths each year.
· Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a form of MDR-TB that is also resistant to any fluoroquinolone and any of the second–line anti-TB injectable agents (i.e. amikacin, kanamycin or capreomycin). About 9% of MDR-TB patients develop XDR-TB, which is even more difficult to treat.
· The WHO End TB Strategy, adopted by all WHO Member States, serves as a blueprint for countries to reduce TB incidence by 80% and TB deaths by 90%, and to eliminate catastrophic costs for TB-affected households by 2030.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/multidrug-resistant-tuberculosis/en/index.html