Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • GM Direct publishing break
  • “Makhanda is in shambles,” says Ward Four resident
  • Ward Two residents buy own floodlights to combat cable theft
  • A town without a playground: where do the children play?
  • Women, Politics, Power, Patriachy: A feminist lens
  • Makhanda’s Links Royal House Gaokx’aob (Chief) has died
  • What’s On – 30 March – 6 April
  • Unapologetically queer and Black consciousness approach to live performance
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»Uncategorized»Drug-resistant TB on the rise in Gtown
Uncategorized

Drug-resistant TB on the rise in Gtown

Grocott's MailBy Grocott's MailAugust 21, 2014No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

New cases of Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) and Extreme Drug Resistant (XDR) Tuberculosis are diagnosed monthly in Grahamstown. This means there are lots of undiagnosed cases in the Grahamstown community.

New cases of Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) and Extreme Drug Resistant (XDR) Tuberculosis are diagnosed monthly in Grahamstown. This means there are lots of undiagnosed cases in the Grahamstown community.

The Grahamstown Hospice has revealed in their newsletter that during the course of the year they treated 491 TB patients. They expressed concern about a dramatic increase in the number of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB patients.

Until a few years ago, such cases were extremely rare in this area, Hospice says. Hospice Clinical Manager Trish Gillies told Grocott's Mail this week that Hospice gets funding from the Department of Health. Because of this they are able to provide home-based care to TB patients.

"The patients still belong to the Department of Health, but we also do screening for family members who live with MDR or XDR patients.

"When a patient is referred to Hospice we do screening and counselling to household members," said Gillies. According to the newsletter, in the past year, Hospice treated 54 MDR TB patients and eight XDR TB patients.

"MDR cases are rising and it is a concern: this is a communicable disease and there are non-adherent patients which makes them more resistant to the treatment," Gillies said.

"We have had a lot of people who have never had TB before being diagnosed with MDR TB," she said. Gillies said there are new cases diagnosed monthly in Grahamstown. She said a social worker from the TB facilities or from Hospice does outreach in the community, especially to the households that have TB patients.

"They need to be told about the open-window policy and that the person must use their own cutlery," Gillies said. "It also depends, because some [have larger living areas]and some people live in very small areas," Gillies said. The treatment for drug-resistant TB is extremely costly and time consuming, requiring daily injections, according the newsletter.

The Hospice staff also trace household members and people with whom the patient has been in contact, in order to screen them for TB. Patients remain infectious until they have completed two weeks of treatment and so if MDR and XDR TB are detected early it can be prevented from spreading.

Previous ArticleRhodes students excited about Thelma Henderson bursary
Next Article Record price for Bonsmara bull
Grocott's Mail

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.