Drastic new measures have been proposed to stop the spread of the virulent strain of tuberculosis (TB) that has claimed at least five lives in the Eastern Cape.
Dispatch Online reported on Monday that the suggested steps include infection monitoring at airports and border posts and the isolation of patients — even against their will.
The recommendations were made in a report published by the Johannesburg-based Public Library of Science (PLS).
This comes amid conflicting reports of how many people have died in the Eastern Cape from extreme drug-resistant (XDR) TB.
Figures released by the Johannesburg-based National TB Control Unit last week put the death toll from XDR-TB at 183 nationally since it was identified in September last year.
The unit said 328 cases of XDR-TB have been identified and added that its own figure shows that 18 people have died from the disease in the Eastern Cape.
Provincial health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo disputed the figure on Sunday, saying only five deaths have so far been positively linked to the killer disease.
Another 28 people were affected.
The PLS study points out that ”diagnosed cases of XDR-TB likely represent a small proportion of the true extent of the problem … and official statistics also likely underestimate the true prevalence of XDR-TB”.
On the detention and isolation of patients with XDR-TB, the report said government may have to favour ”the interests of the wider public over that of the patient”.
”Although such an approach might interfere with the patient’s right to autonomy and will undoubtedly have human rights implications … ultimately in such crisis, the interests of public health must prevail over the rights of the individual”. — Sapa