Killer TB spreads to mines

2006-09-19 18:52

Bloemfontein - Six miners from the Free State Goldfields have been diagnosed with extreme-drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), said the provincial health department on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Gela Naude said the six confirmed XDR-TB patients were all from Gold Fields and Harmony mines at Welkom.

"They are being kept in isolation at Ernest Oppenheimer and St Helena hospitals in Welkom."

Naude said the patients would be transferred to the provincial isolation unit within the next week.

"Preparations are being made at the unit for the patients to be quarantined properly."

Tracing their contacts

Naude said they were working closely with the national department of health in regard to the medication and treatment of the six patients.

The department was also "in the process of engaging the mines to trace all people, who were in close contact with these patients, for testing".

Naude emphasised there was no need for the public to panic at this stage, as the situation was contained.

The killer XDR-TB is defined as resistant to the two most potent anti-TB drugs, together with resistance to at least three of the six classes of reserve second-line drugs.

Naude said all multi-drug-resistant TB patients who did not respond to the second-line drugs had to be tested to determine whether they had the XDR-TB strain.

Main symptom is a cough

"If one is found to have it, he or she will be isolated and the contacts will be traced," she said.

The main symptom of TB is a cough that lasts for longer than two weeks.

People who think they may have TB, should go to their nearest clinic for testing.

- SAPA