https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWx3Q7WsI4 (Video courtesy of ABC TV)

Burnet’s new approach to a point-of-care TB diagnostic features in this ABC Newsline report by Kate Arnott.

Burnet’s leading TB experts, Associate Professor David Anderson, Dr Emma McBryde and Dr Suman Majumdar share their views about the difficulties in tackling tuberculosis and particularly multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB).

This report followed Burnet’s recent hosting of the Advances in Tuberculosis: Australian and Regional Perspectives symposium in Melbourne which attracted experts from across the Asia and Pacific region.

Dr Suman Majumdar, an infectious diseases physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a Burnet Institute Associate, said the increased burden of TB in the region is being fuelled by the emergence of MDR-TB, TB/HIV co-infection and the neglect of childhood TB.

“In the case of MDR-TB, patient’s living with this disease can no longer be ignored as untreated, this disease can kill and spread to others. Cure is possible, but current treatment involves an excruciating two-year ordeal of swallowing 20 pills a day and receiving a painful injection each day for more than eight months – the side effects are terrible.

“Treatment needs to be coupled with close patient support and delivery of care close to their homes and livelihoods. We urgently need enhanced preventative measures, universal access to diagnostics (especially children) and a safer, shorter treatment for DR-TB,” he said.

Jo Chandler- a personal story

One of those MDR-TB patients is former Fairfax journalist and now freelancer, Melbourne-based Jo Chandler. Jo talks candidly about the affects of recovering from MDR-TB and why she regards herself as a ‘privileged TB patient’.