Tuberculosis Patient at the Pediatric Hospital

Today at the pediatric hospital there were several cases, but one interesting case was a patient with tuberculosis. The patient was only six years old, and had been having tuberculosis for three months. With medicine, the infection was diminished, but quickly grew resistant to the treatment and became very virulent for the patient. The patient seemed incapacitated, and was constantly sleeping. The doctor explained that administering another antibiotic could be life-threatening, as the bacteria could become resistant to the medicine. He said that the disease was considered Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. The best care for the patient would be to take a blood sample of the patient: Then, they will grow strains of the bacteria, and test different pharmacological treatments on the patient's specific tuberculosis. After determining all of the medicines that would be effective, the doctors will administer a "drug cocktail," a series of all of the drugs that were effect, to ensure that all of the bacteria can be killed before growing resistant to a particular treatment. The procedure will take some time, but they already withdrew the patient's blood sample, and they will begin running tests immediately. The medical volunteers with Aim Abroad learned a great deal today!