Prevalence of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (TB) and Its Challenges to Public Health in the World
Tuberculosis has possibly killed more human beings than any other disease throughout history. With almost 9 million new cases each year, TB remains one of the most feared diseases on the planet. Despite the recent advances of global control efforts, tuberculosis remains a major public health problem in most developing countries. Current global estimates indicate that about a third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and almost 1.7 million TB deaths are occurred in 2006. SOAR Into the 21st century it is still one of the leading cause of deaths among all infectious diseases, killing at least 2 million people every year. The situation became even worse by the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Anyone of any race, age or nationality can contract TB, but certain factors increase risk of the disease. Tuberculosis has been described a disease of poverty, but other factors are likely to be important as well. There are...