Doctors and researchers have found a resurgence in cases of tuberculosis (TB) around the world, with many cases stemming from India and South Africa. More cases than usual have been found in the United States, and the new strain of the disease is spreading faster than scientists can create vaccines for it.
The new strain of TB is "virtually incurable" and is spreading rapidly in developing countries. Other strains of TB have been growing in cases found per year in recent years, which can be a cause for concern considering the new strain. Doctors working around this new strain are being especially careful, the drug therapy regiment can be more painful than the disease itself, as described by Dr. Uvistra Naidoo of South Africa. When working with patients he contracted the disease, this caused him to be on a drug regiment for 3 painful years. He lost 30 pounds and partial usage of his left lung.
Many of the sufferers in developing countries do not have access to modern medicine that can ease tuberculosis, and therefore, the disease spreads without intervention amongst the less fortunate. That's not to say that developed countries aren't having outbreaks. In the 90's New York City had an outbreak that left 32 hospitalized and of the 32, 29 died.
Although we have eradicated smallpox, and are on the verge of eradicating polio, scientists say that it will take centuries to eradicate tuberculosis. Centuries, given that the strain does not mutate, according to Dr. Mario Raviglione in 2011. How much longer, now that the disease has already mutated?
Themes of nature of science found in the article:
2. Science is based on evidence - In order to conclude that the disease is nearly incurable, scientists must have evidence to back that statement.
1. Science is collaborative - Scientists must have collaborated in their data to conclude that the disease was becoming more dangerous.
Sources:
http://www.livescience.com/27052-tuberculosis-tb-incurable-antibiotics.html
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/science_technology/It_will_take_centuries_to_eradicate_TB.html?cid=31460986
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/11/doctors-struggling-totally-drug-resistant-tuberculosis-south-africa
- Gene Harvey
I think that this is interesting because tuberculosis has existed for at least 15,000 years and the disease is still hard to treat. It is rather scary to even think about a disease that people die from and there is no effective way to treat it. This is a website that talks about the history of the disease. http://www.news-medical.net/health/History-of-Tuberculosis.aspx
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