Since 2001, there have been 13 confirmed cases of drug resistant TB identified in Thailand according to the Drug Resistant TB Research Fund’s chairman Dr. Manoon Leechawengwong.
There is some debate concerning the extremely dangerous cases as to date they seem to have escaped the attention of the country’s public health minister. The form of the disease, known as XDR-TB, is extremely problematic because although it can be spread, it is almost impossible to cure.
Problems associated with XDR-TB came to the public’s attention recently when a 44-year-old American was taken into custody after traveling to Europe and Canada with the disease, putting people he shared a plane with at risk.
Travelers to Thailand have very little to worry about. Tuberculosis is usually spread through prolonged contact with someone who is infected and is most often an affliction of those with fragile immune systems, malnutrition or other health problems.
-TN
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