Days after panic struck Mumbai with reports of a deadly form of tuberculosis called total drug resistant (TDR)-TB, official investigations have found that there are no TDR cases in Mumbai.
Taking stock of the situation at a meeting in Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said in a statement, “A Central team has concluded that not a single TDR-TB patient was found in Mumbai. Patients under the scanner are responding to treatment and their examination reports are negative [for TDR-TB]. Therefore, citizens need not panic.”
Free treatment
“Central experts have found that a form of TB that is resistant to treatment does not exist. TB patients are being provided free treatment with the help of Central funding. The State and the Mumbai civic corporation are taking appropriate measures against the disease,” Mr. Chavan said. He called upon private hospitals to report TB cases to government agencies.
Three of the 12 patients suffering from drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) have died at the Hinduja hospital, which first reported the TDR-TB cases.
Jayant Kumar Banthia, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health Department, examined seven patients at the hospital. “Four were responding to treatment and the others were in a stable condition.”
Of the remaining two patients, one belongs to the suburb of Bhayander and the other to Ratnagiri district. “We have told the hospital to ask the patients to contact us,” Mr. Banthia told The Hindu on the phone.
May be XDR-TB
Asked about the cause of the three deaths, Mr. Banthia said they could have been suffering from Extensively Drug Resistant (XDR) TB. “There is nothing like TDR-TB,” he said.
