A new antibiotic called levofloxacin has shown promising results against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. This and more about the new discovery 

In what can only be considered a medical breakthrough, it has been found that a specific antibiotic is extremely helpful in dealing with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

The conclusion was reached based on two studies that were conducted in South Africa and Vietnam. Based on these independent studies, it was found that the antibiotic levofloxacin could reduce the chances of developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis by at least 60 percent. There are two main reasons why this discovery is extremely important.

Firstly, tuberculosis is one of the most widespread diseases that is still very much in prevalence, especially in developing countries, where it is more rampant. Although treatment is available for the same, medicines and other facilities are usually less accessible in these countries.

Levofloxacin is a cheap alternative to all the other available treatments for tuberculosis. This makes the drug accessible to a bigger crowd which means more people would be able to keep away from it.

Secondly, it is particularly tricky to deal with drug-resistant tuberculosis as it tends to escape treatment from isoniazid and rifampicin — a combination medication used to treat tuberculosis. With levofloxacin, this would no longer be the case.

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What is multidrug-resistant tuberculosis?

In 2022 at least 10.6 million people were affected by Tuberculosis (Image via freepik)

Tuberculosis is a very common airborne disease. It is also the second leading cause of death due to infectious diseases worldwide, just behind COVID-19. As of 2022, 1.3 million people have lost their lives to the disease. In the same year, it was estimated that at least 10.6 million people were affected by TB, as per WHO.

Tuberculosis primarily affects the lungs but it may also affect other parts of the human body such as the kidneys, the brain, or the spine. It is generally preventable but recovery solely depends on how early you report the symptoms of the same. If you are unable to report it at the earliest, it may sometimes lead to serious consequences like death.

The two antibiotics that are generally used for the treatment of tuberculosis are isoniazid and rifampin. However, sometimes, the treatment does not work out. In this case, the person may have been affected by multidrug-resistant tuberculosis — a type of TB in which medicines known to treat the disease fail to work.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis tends to escape the generally used medicines for TB (Image via freepik)

In this case, Levofloxacin, the new antibiotic that has shown good results in dealing with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis based on two promising studies will be a welcoming change.

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Although the studies regarding Levofloxacin look promising, it needs to go through several stages of testing and trials to establish if it is effective or not. Only after that can it be produced and distributed amongst the masses.