FDA en­dors­es new reg­i­men for dead­ly drug-re­sis­tant tu­ber­cu­lo­sis ram­pant in de­vel­op­ing world

The bac­te­ria be­hind tu­ber­cu­lo­sis do not dis­crim­i­nate — they are all-per­va­sive, but the high­est bur­den of dis­ease is borne by poor­er na­tions. Like many oth­er forms of bac­te­ria, TB-caus­ing bac­te­ria have rapid­ly mu­tat­ed to be­come drug-re­sis­tant — and for those in­flict­ed with these strains, op­tions are lim­it­ed and prog­no­sis fee­ble. In a first, the FDA on Wednes­day ap­proved a three-drug cock­tail de­vel­oped by a non­prof­it or­ga­ni­za­tion that is en­gi­neered to help those with the stub­born form of TB that has failed to re­spond to con­ven­tion­al ther­a­py.

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