The city is facing the problem of drug-resistant tuberculosis. At least 98 patients in the city who have been detected with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDT-TB) are on Category IV treatment. The rest are on pre-treatment evaluation and counselling,Dr Kanchan Jagtap,Director of Intermediate Reference Laboratory set up in Pune to detect MDR-TB cases,said. We received 539 sputum samples from PMC,PCMC and Pune rural areas from February this year. Out of that,141 are detected with MDR-TB and 98 are already on Category IV treatment. The 98 patients on Cat IV treatment included 40 from PMC,36 from PCMC and 22 from Pune rural, said Jagtap. Pune hosts the second such facility in the state after Nagpur where MDR-TB cases are detected through a culture sensitivity test and free treatment is provided as the drugs to be taken over a period of 24 months cost over Rs 2-3 lakh. A Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) plus site with 20 beds has been set up at Aundh Hospital. For the first time,a paediatric case where a 13-year-old malnourished girl,suffering from MDR-TB,was also treated. Meanwhile,the sample of a patient suspected with MDR-TBs deadlier cousin extensively - drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR) and who was admitted at DOT Plus site tested negative,Jagtap said. TB becomes resistant when proper drugs or treatment is not given. City TB officer Dr C Thakur admits that it has now become imperative for private practitioners to report each and every case to the authorities concerned. We are creating awareness but there is still lack of response from doctors, Thakur said. Free of cost MDR-TB treatment is being given and after observation at the DOT- Plus site,patients are sent home. They then report to the dispensaries authorised by the PMC to provide MDR-TB treatment on a daily basis. An injection is given daily to the patients, Thakur added. MDR-TB prevalence is estimated to be 2.3 per cent among new cases and 12-17 per cent among re-treatment cases. The best way to prevent it is to complete the entire course of anti-TB drugs,Jagtap said,adding that the facility for testing for MDR-TB has also been extended to 20 more districts,including Sangli,Kolhapur,Nashik,Dhule,Jalgaon and Malegaon.
