My neighbor contracted tuberculosis

[Dinner]

You can get exposed to TB and not actually develop TB. That means the injection site of the test will turn red but you don't actually have TB.

[DaShi]

TB is a rising threat globally and likely to see a resurgence. The problem, like with most germs, is that it is becoming increasingly resistant to current antibiotics. We used to speak of drug-resistant TB. Now we have extremely drug-resistant TB. However, TB remains primarily a third-world problem (hence Philadelphia), so few drug companies are interested in developing new products that few of the people who demand it can afford.

[Tuberski]

You can get exposed to TB and not actually develop TB. That means the injection site of the test will turn red but you don't actually have TB.

No. It has to be red and raised after 48 hours to confirm exposure. The raised area also has to be a certain size.

ACK!

[Elok]

TB is a rising threat globally and likely to see a resurgence. The problem, like with most germs, is that it is becoming increasingly resistant to current antibiotics. We used to speak of drug-resistant TB. Now we have extremely drug-resistant TB. However, TB remains primarily a third-world problem (hence Philadelphia), so few drug companies are interested in developing new products that few of the people who demand it can afford.

Part of the problem with TB is that mice don't develop TB the same way people do. In humans, the germs often form these nasty little colonies sealed in white capsules of protein or something like that, so that they can't hurt the host or be hurt by it; essentially, it's a stalemate until the capsules rupture. None of that happens in mice. When they get TB, they just get weaker at a constant, very rapid pace before dying. And, since mice are the overwhelming favorite animal for lab testing...well, that throws a wrench in the gears.

[DaShi]

It can still be grown in culture. The problem is that antibacterial drug development of any kind is a costly procedure.

[Elok]

Yes, it can be grown in culture, but there's no way to use mice to model the progression of the disease in humans, with or without drugs, and that's a problem. Of course drug, development in general is expensive, and there may well be special difficulties with developing antibiotics.

[Hauldren Collider]

Part of the problem with TB is that mice don't develop TB the same way people do. In humans, the germs often form these nasty little colonies sealed in white capsules of protein or something like that, so that they can't hurt the host or be hurt by it; essentially, it's a stalemate until the capsules rupture. None of that happens in mice. When they get TB, they just get weaker at a constant, very rapid pace before dying. And, since mice are the overwhelming favorite animal for lab testing...well, that throws a wrench in the gears.

Well it's simple. Bring back human testing.

Nazis promoting the medical sciences

[SlowwHand]

A simple Google search on tuberculosis increase:

The world-wide increase in tuberculosis: how demographic changes ...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12846265

by PD Davies - 2003 - Cited by 63 - Related articles
After more than a century of decline, in the mid 1980s tuberculosis began to increase in some developed countries. Health care workers were then forced to look ...
Why are the number of cases of tuberculosis increasing
wiki.answers.com › Wiki Answers › Categories › Health
As the number of HIV infections increases (which we know it is doing) these people become infected with TB and are more contagious than HIV-negative ...
HPA - Cases of tuberculosis continue to increase
https://www.hpa.org.uk/NewsCentre/.....ntinuetoincrea...
Mar 16, 2010 – Health Protection Agency publishes new figures for 2009.
News for tuberculosis increase

IBNLive.com
Totally drug-resistant TB emerges in India
Nature.com - 2 days ago
Physicians in India have identified a form of incurable tuberculosis there, raising further concerns over increasing drug resistance to the disease 1 . ...
86 related articles
Drug-resistant Tuberculosis On The Increase In The UK

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502081542.htm

May 2, 2008 – A changing population structure and ongoing migration have increased cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis, according to a study.

[Sava]

New York had problems with multi-drug resisant t.b. too.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7791840

NYC... also a ****hole

[Dr. Nick]

Just eat well. TB is unlikely to be serious if you're in a decent nutritional state. Also, if your neighbor is at home it is most likely that he isn't coughing up any bacilli and thus isn't infectious to anyone.

[Dr Strangelove]

The BCG vaccine doesn't really work very well. Consider the fact that Russia uses the vaccine routinely yet has the highest incidence of TB infection in Europe. I've heard that one quarter of all Russian physicians have tuberculosis.
There's a new strain of tuberculosis in India that is truly resistant to every treatment regimen, but I don't think it has spread to the US yet. India is another country that requires the BCG vaccine, but I don't know how effective their vaccination campaign is.