Woman With Rare, Drug-Resistant Form of TB Treated at NIH

A woman who flew from India to the United States is infected with a rare drug-resistant form of the respiratory disease tuberculosis, and is now being treated in the isolation unit of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

This person, who is from India, visited the Chicago area on May 18 and sought treatment. The patient, who local health officials later learned was infected XDR-TB, a very rare form of tuberculosis, was transferred out of Illinois for care.

The patient is being treated at the NIH Clinical Center’s Special Clinical Studies Unit, which offers high-level isolation capabilities and is staffed by specialists in infectious diseases and critical care, the NIH said. The unit’s staff is trained in strict infection control practices optimized to prevent spread of potentially transmissible agents such as Ebola. Two Ebola patients have been treated at the unit and recovered in the past year.

Tuberculosis can affect a person’s lungs, brain, kidneys and spine, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It can be fatal and is spread through the air, such as when a person coughs or sneezes. Most cases are treatable with common medications.

TB is not spread by shaking someone’s hand, sharing food or drink, touching bed linens or toilet seats, sharing toothbrushes or kissing.

Symptoms of tuberculosis are: cough for more than three weeks; fever or chills for more than three weeks; night sweats; unexplained weight loss of 10 pounds or more; or if an individual has had tuberculosis or been treated for the disease, or coughs up blood, the county health department says.

The tuberculosis patient traveled to Missouri and Tennessee, as well, during the seven weeks she was in the country before being hospitalized. Newsweek reports health officials are tracking down anyone who may have had contact with the woman. Because the woman was in stable condition, officials say it’s unlikely she infected others.

Tuberculosis is not easily transmissible and XDR-TB, in particular, is also rare, health officials said. XDR-TB is a form of the disease that is resistant to many of the most powerful anti-TB drugs.

According to the World Health Organization, developing XDR-TB is usually a sign of an active TB patient receiving inadequate clinical care. Or a sign that the patient has not received the proper information, counseling and material support to complete their full course of treatment.

Patch Editor Amie Schaenzer contributed to this story.