Latest news with #DR-TB
Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
3 kids die of TB as general physicians miss early signs
Mumbai: Three children aged 12 to 16 died of disseminated tuberculosis (TB) at one of the major public hospitals in the city over the last month not due to lack of treatment but because private general practitioners failed to diagnose the disease early. Disseminated TB refers to the spread of the disease from the lungs to other organs. Sometimes, even chest physicians miss its signs in paediatric patients. For instance, a 15-year-old girl was sent to the hospital as a drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) patient without further evaluation. "All we were told was that she had a headache. As soon as she arrived, she collapsed and had to be put on a ventilator. She was severely neurologically impaired with meningitis," said a doctor from the hospital's paediatric department. The girl's parents told the hospital that she had been vomiting for the past month: a classic telltale sign of disseminated TB. The hospital sees a few such cases every month. "Such patients visit general physicians first who fail to refer them to specialists till it is very late. That is what happened to the three who died," the doctor said. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai The head of the hospital's paediatric department said DR-TB remains a serious issue in children. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo "We are seeing every type of TB in children: abdominal, pulmonary, bone, brain, intestine, skin. Most of these patients rush in too late and in terrible distress, sometimes unconscious, with convulsions that cannot be controlled, and they all turn out to be TB patients." Paediatric TB cases in Mumbai account for about 7-9% of all TB cases, according to data from BMC's health department. The city reports around 60,000 TB cases annually. There is a considerable delay in seeking treatment for TB in the first place, and stigma as well as limited access play a role in this. Ganesh Acharya, a city-based TB-HIV activist, said, "A delay of two to three months in the treatment of children with TB is common. Families visit multiple general doctors who diagnose them with cough and cold, and in the end, it becomes a case of disseminated TB." For children aged 12-16, delayed diagnosis is far more common as parents often stop consulting paediatricians and instead take them to general practitioners. A former paediatrician at Sion Hospital who routinely treated TB patients said, "There are complex reasons as to why general practitioners are unable to diagnose TB patients; one is that the manifestation of TB in children is very different than that in adults. " In children, it can show up as pleural effusion (fluid in chest) or severe bronchitis, said the doctor. "There's a wide range of symptoms. That's why general practitioners often don't recognise it as TB." Dr Tanu Singhal, paediatric consultant at Kokilaben Hospital, said, "TB is common even among well-off families. General practitioners may miss or sometimes misdiagnose it, but these families often go to specialists early themselves if the child doesn't improve."
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Medicine used in drug-resistant TB treatment 25% cheaper
The price of pretomanid, a key component used in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), dropped by 25% in April, to less than $1 per day, primarily owing to Indian manufacturers joining in, people familiar with the matter said. Experts see this as an important development given the pressures on health spending in high-burden countries. Pretomanid is a key component of the BPaL/M, a shorter and more effective regimen that the Union government has also recently introduced in the national TB programme. TB Alliance, a non-profit that developed pretomanid, in a statement said the price drop of the key drug reflects ongoing efforts by the organisation and its partners 'to broaden access and improve affordability through a multi-manufacturer approach to access.' TB Alliance further said it has pioneered an innovative access model by partnering with multiple quality-assured manufacturers. 'This strategy helped launch pretomanid at an initial low price and ensured rapid, sustainable, and affordable access across high-TB burden countries. Simultaneously, by enabling healthy competition and fostering multiple high-quality supply sources, TB Alliance's strategy expanded availability while driving down costs,' the statement added. BPaL/M is a six-month all-oral regimen recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat most forms of drug-resistant TB. It consists of bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L), with or without moxifloxacin (M). Pretomanid is now available through the Global Drug Facility (GDF) at just $169 per treatment course (of six month), effectively making it less than $1 per day, a key pricing benchmark identified by the global TB advocacy community. The drug was initially sold for $364 per treatment course after its approval in 2019, which was reduced to $224 in October 2024. The current GDF price reduction, led by Lupin Limited, represents a crucial step in delivering on this vision, said the statement. Procurement through GDF will save an estimated $37 million annually according to The Stop TB Partnership, the organisation responsible for managing GDF, allowing for the treatment of an additional 120,000 people with DR-TB. Together with recent price reductions for the other regimen components, the cost of a full BPaL/M treatment course has dropped to a new low of $310—less than $2 per day, and a 47% reduction from its December 2022 price. 'Lupin is proud to collaborate with TB Alliance and the Global Drug Facility to make pretomanid, an essential medicine in the fight against multidrug-resistant TB, more accessible and affordable for TB patients across the globe,' said Ramesh Swaminathan, global CFO, executive director, head of API Plus SBU, Lupin, in a statement. 'The recent price reduction reflects our strong and deep-rooted commitment to delivering high-quality and affordable medicines to TB patients worldwide. Through this partnership, we reaffirm our dedication to patient-centric innovation and equitable access, ensuring that countries burdened by TB have the necessary treatment options they need to save lives and strengthen public health systems.'
