TB

Been working on trying to map the TB cases. Originally I thought most of the cases were in Manali or the surrounding villages but I was wrong. I didn’t realize how much TB was a problem in India. I learned something interesting as well. India is having a large problem with patients having TB that drug resistant and because of lack of resources doctors are unable to identify if their patients have this type within a timely manner. Therefor when patient comes in with TB regardless of what type it is the doctor immediately start them on antibiotics. If a patients goes four months without responding to the antibiotics then the doctor knows its drug resistant. This is a terrible way to go about diagnosing TB because first of all having a patient on antibiotics for so long is costly, can hurt them more than help, and finally now other bacteria can build up a resistant’s as well from repetitive antibiotic use therefor in the future this particular antibiotic will be ineffective and it will be harder to treat patients. Issues like this frustrate me, not because towns like this lack the knowledge or even the ability but because the lack of money. In the United States all we would have to do is take a sputum culture and we would know if a patients TB is drug resistance within hours. In developing countries is not so simple.