The state has upped its ante against tuberculosis (TB), as the health department has expanded access to the newest anti-TB drug, bedaquiline, to patients across Maharashtra. Facts about tuberculosis TB is an airborne disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. Bedaquiline is an anti-TB drug used specifically to treat TB patients who are resistant to most powerful anti-TB drugs such as rifampicin, isoniazid, and other core anti-TB drugs, and have developed multidrug-resistant TB. It is the first anti-TB drug to have been rolled out in the last 40 years. “Doctors treating patients can approach the TB officer after checking the patient’s drug resistance.

Source: Hindustan Times June 04, 2018 06:24 UTC