Top pulmonologist says it is a challenge to cure tuberculosis
Top pulmonologist Dr. Bryan Cepedoza says that while there is a cure for tuberculosis (TB), it remains a challenge to completely eradicate the disease.
This is what the doctor said during his interview over “Newsmakers ug Uban Pa” on Feb. 1, 2023, hosted by Ardy Araneta-Batoy and Dave Albarado.
He said that while there is a cure for TB, the bacteria causing the disease mutates and is able to resist the effects of drugs.
Thus, there are patients who suffer from multi-drug resistant TB. This means that the TB disease could no longer be treated with the use of first line drugs. In this situation, the TB is able to overcome the effects of the drugs making them ineffective against TB.
The worst thing, the doctor added, is that the multi-drug resistant TB may develop into extensive drug resistant TB.
This type of TB, he said, is no longer curable because the bacteria have become resistant against all kinds of drugs against TB.
Cepedoza said that he would rather be diagnosed of early stage lung cancer than to have extensive drug resistant TB. He added that early stage lung cancer has a better chance for recovery than a person with extensive drug resistant TB.
There are TB patients who would stop taking medicines when they feel better not knowing that in so doing, it makes the TB bacteria mutate into drug resistant variant. At this point, it is difficult to cure TB.
A person with extensive drug resistance TB has a high probability of premature death.