I believe what killed bee population has mutated.let me explain.genetically modified corn can not be regrown,for a second year crop.also,when this wheat decays it turns into a white spore,that in the past longed in lungs of bees,as green algae.made up of starch,that could not be broken down ,by the bees.the white bacteria,had not corn sugar,.but a tree starch,with green algae,that would grow inside bees killing them
Worse Than SARS?
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By contrast, the cure rate of normal TB is . . . ?
Raviglione: . . . . 95 percent. It's very curable. You use a cocktail of four drugs for two months, then two of these drugs for another four months. But in some places, doctors will use only one drug, contrary to the standard protocol. That single drug might kill 99.99 percent of TB bacilli [germs] in your body. You will feel better, because you have dramatically decreased the bacilli—but the one bacillus that survives keeps replicating, because it is not susceptible to the drug treatment. Two months later, the person starts deteriorating again, as the surviving bacillus creates a new, drug-resistant population.
So MDR and XDR are caused by poor treatment of the disease?
Cataldi: Also by misdiagnosis and the unwitting use of counterfeit drugs, so that patients are not treated effectively.
How do you treat XDR?
Raviglione: The two strongest drugs [for normal TB] are ineffective against XDR. The remaining two drugs may still work, but these are weak drugs. So you have to turn to the second-line drugs that are used for MDR. Again, the best of these are ineffective against XDR, so you're left with three or four drugs that are not only weak, but also cause toxic side effects.
What kind of side effects?
Raviglione: Gastrointestinal distress—including diarrhea and stomach aches—liver damage and neurological problems such as psychotic reactions and seizures.
Cataldi: I'm not a doctor, but when I spend time with health workers giving these medications to patients, people will say the medicines make them feel worse. They have a tendency to stop the treatment for this reason.
How expensive is XDR to treat?
Raviglione: The drugs used to treat normal TB are very cheap—$20 for six months of treatment in the developing world. The main cost is medical assistance and oversight to make sure that people take their drugs regularly. By contrast, the drugs used to treat MDR can cost up to $20,000 for the two years of treatment that are required.
I
'
ve heard scientists argue that highly virulent diseases like Ebola tend to die out because they kill off their hosts before people can spread
them around. Is this true of XDR?
Cataldi: No. You can still infect a lot of people in the months you survive. TB is airborne. It's not like HIV, where you need person-to-person contact. With TB, a carrier can just cough or sneeze—even speak—and spread the disease.
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