Damn

[mandragora]

So, friend who I'm going out with tonight has rung up to check whether we're still on and said that I might want to know that he's just got his test results and that he hadn't got TB!

I knew he was having tests, but he didn't mention what for. The reason he's been tested is that his girlfriend does have TB. Well, it's either that or she's in the terminal stages of lung cancer. I never thought I'd be hoping that someone has TB, but obviously in this case I am. It's not likely she has lung cancer as she's a 26 years old life-long non-smoker and she has none of the usual symptoms of advanced lung cancer.

But still. Damn.

Here's hoping that her TB is not one of the drug resistant strains and that the 6 months course of antibiotics she's on will cure her.

This is a depressing reminder of how TB is making a come back.

Comments

[seiyaharris.livejournal.com]

Most of my year had to be retested after a girl in three of my classes got TB. I had to have a chest x-ray and take the course of pills because my six needles wasn't conclusive. Mum gets TB scares all the time, teaching in Tower Hamlets.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Most of my year had to be retested after a girl in three of my classes got TB

Yes, this is exactly what I meant. When I was at school it was unheard of for anyone to get TB. Sorry you had to take the pills, but at least you did actually take them. The reason TB has become drug resistant is because too many people don't finish their prescribed pills.

I'm not surprised that your poor mother suffers TB scares a lot, what with Tower Hamlets being one of Britain's most deprived boroughs. Sigh.

[prudentia.livejournal.com]

When my mother was in her 40s she had a routine chest x-ray for something or other, and the doctor asked her how old she was when she had TB. This was news to her! But apparently she *had* had it. And it explained why I had natural immunity and didn't have to have the BCG innoculation at school.

Good wishes to your friend and his girlfriend.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm not surprised that your mother had TB and didn't know it because apparently that wasn't uncommon. But we had TB almost - almost - beaten, at least in the West. And now it's on the rise again.

There were lots of jokes last night about my friend being a leper, with much debate as to whether it would be better for him to walk in front of or behind us. He's also got a sinus condition at the moment that leads to lots of coughing - you can imagine the comments...

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Rachel just did an essay on TB. I think she found some pretty scary statistics in her research.

HUGS to all.

Gina

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Many thanks for the hugs, although I might not pass them on just yet... *g*

The statistics are scary. Funnily enough I looked into TB a bit when I was betaing a Pros story and although TB remains relatively rare in the UK it kills 2 million people a year worldwide. The vast majority of these are, of course, of poor people in undeveloped countries who don't have access to the medicines that would cure them. Yes, it is a disgrace.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

TB? T-bloody-B? My God. I thought they cured that back in the forties.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

A cure for TB was found in the forties, but it's never been completely eradicated. It was at its lowest in the UK during the 1980s where there were between 5-6,000 cases a year. Of course, the overwhelming majority of those people were cured.

It's still rare in the UK and the West in general. Nowadays in the UK there are about 7,000 cases a year. Death is rare and usually occurs in the case of people with other conditions, such as HIV. That said there were 73,000 deaths in the whole of Europe last year.

Worldwide TB kills 2 million people a year. Most of these deaths are preventable, if the sufferers only received the correct medicine. Mostly they don't, because they're poor. Of course this shouldn't happen in the 21st century. But neither should people dying of starvation.