Diana and others, I can't agree more, Multi Drug Resistant TB is serious stuff and I knew that S.A. and the Rio Grande Valley are in the thick of the fight. Very interesting article, something I've been following in the press for a number of years. There is also an excellent book called Mountains beyond Mountains which discusses the TB issue along with health care issues in developing countries, places where cavers frequent (my tie in to caving and making this a relevant topic for Texas Cavers). An individuals can place the population at great risk. Most of us don't remember that a simple infection before the 1940's could be a death sentence but with the advent of modern antibiotics, folks dying of common infections became a thing of the past. Most of the folks jailed with infectious diseases.
The over prescription of antibiotics to treat every runny nose and the self medication with antibiotics available over the counter in many countries has resulted in the effective loss of many antibiotics. I'm not afraid of Ebola but of MDR TB, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, and some of the other diseases which were real killers 60 years ago. MDR TB is an excellent example of evolution which reminds me of my favorite Opus Cartoon which has the old man in the doctor's office being examined. The Dr. tells the old man that he has TB and the man asks him what they could do about that. The doctor said, that depends on whether you believe in creation or evolution. If you believe in creation, we'll treat you with the old antibiotics and you'll die. If you believe in evolution, we'll treat you with the new antibiotics the bacterium hasn't evolved resistance too, and you'll live. LOL Geary (I think I'm over 100 words) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
