The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7491 p240
1 March 2008

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Multidrug resistant TB rates rise

Nearly half a million new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are estimated to occur each year worldwide with reports of extensively drug-resistant TB now recorded in 45 countries, a World Health Organization report reveals.
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The report is based on data from 90,000 TB patients in 81 countries collected between 2002 and 2006, representing over 35 per cent of the global total of notified new smear-positive TB cases. The highest rate of MDR-TB was recorded in Baku, Azerbaijan, where 22.3 per cent of all new cases were reported as multidrug-resistant.