TB - The Ticking Time Bomb

India is the TB capital of the world. Every year, a staggering 18 lakh people contract the disease, of which 8 lakh are infectious and about 3.7 lakh people die annually. It is a shame that this disease has not been fought on a war footing. Previously known as a poor man's disease, TB affects all classes of society today with its deadlier form-multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB). This bacteria has become resistant to the first line drugs-especially Rifampicin and Isoniazid-which can otherwise cure the disease in six months. MDR TB is a monster; it takes more than two years to cure, its costs are prohibitive-from three lakhs to twenty lakhs-and the side effects are such that many patients prefer death to treatment. Even about MDR TB, two more dangerous variants, extremely drug-resistant (XDR) and totally drug-resistant (TDR) TB are making treatment next to impossible. Doctors, nurses and ward boys are most vulnerable to the disease as the pathetic living and working conditions makes them prime targets for the bacilli.