Posted on 01/10/2003 7:59:50 AM PST by johniegrad
A Duluth doctor's infection won't respond to the five most commonly used drugs, the first line of defense against tuberculosis.
An ill Duluth doctor who exposed patients to tuberculosis is infected with a strain of bacteria that withstands widely used drugs.
The Minnesota Health Department said Thursday that preliminary laboratory results show that Dr. Okechukwu Iwu's tuberculosis infection isn't vulnerable to five drugs considered the best weapons against the disease.
A confirmation is expected Monday, Minnesota Department of Health spokesman Doug Schultz said.
That wipes out doctors' first line of defense for treating Iwu, hospitalized in serious condition at St. Mary's Medical Center.
It also eliminates drugs that prevent the disease in exposed patients or in Iwu's St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic co-workers who test positive for a TB infection.
Iwu may have exposed as many as 90 patients in two Duluth hospitals, St. Mary's and Miller-Dwan medical centers, between Nov. 1 andDec. 3.
Minnesota's Health Department wants at least 70 of Iwu's former patients to undergo a skin test that would reveal an infection with the bacteria that causes TB.
For 2002's first nine months, 4 percent of the 131 Minnesota tuberculosis infections tested were resistant to at least two front-line drugs, and 17 percent weren't susceptible to one front-line drug.
It's not known whichsecond-tier drugs may be able to cripple or kill Iwu's bacterial infection, said Dr. Janet Larson, Minnesota's tuberculosis consultant and an infectious disease specialist at Hennepin County Medical Center.
The alternative drugs, some which require shots or IVs, are less effective and typically have more side effects, she said.
The National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver will test to see if Iwu's infection is immune to any of 10 or 12 alternative medications.
Results depend on how fast the bacteria grows in the laboratory, Larson said.
The lab results prompted doctors to alter Iwu's treatment Thursday, said Beth Johnson, SMDC spokeswoman.
It's the second time doctors have treated Iwu for tuberculosis. The first came in New York in May 2001. Iwu previously worked in New York, where he treated TB patients.
Patients with repeat tuberculosis are rare, Larson said. A second illness may be caused by a new infection with tuberculosis bacteria or by an old infection that survived treatment, Larson said.
A weakened immune system can create a window for the bacteria; so can an error treating a first infection, which leads to drug-immune strains, Larson said.
A person who is infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis can't spread the disease unless the bacteria overwhelms the immune system and causes illness in the voice box or lungs.
People with weak immune systems or an infection for less than 24 months are at a greater risk for becoming sick.
Of the 16 million Americans who harbor a TB infection, 10 percent will become sick with the disease. The remaining 90 percent with dormant infections will never develop symptoms and can't spread the disease.
Two people exposed to Iwu have tested positive for an infection, according to the St. Louis County Health Department and SMDC.
First, this is making me wonder why FoxNews.com is pushing people back into the doctor's office. The one time I went to a doctor's office for a blood test to check the accuracy of a home test, the nurse bruised up my arm because she didn't know how to draw blood correctly. Now, the "superbugs" are coming out of the hospitals they were bred in.
Americans Look to Home Health Tests for Results
Second, I think everyone should at least peruse the book The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett. Not only will it give you a better idea of what's coming in the future in the world of microbes, but it helps you see the idiocy and wisdom of the past.
Excellent book! I read it quite awhile ago but not much has changed since she wrote it.
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