Word: sputum
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...drugs available - and there is no third line of pharmaceutical defense. While some promising candidates are being tested, even if they prove effective, they will not be available for at least five more years. There is also no easy way to detect drug-resistant strains of TB; current sputum-based screens can take anywhere from two weeks to two months, during which time doctors protectively place infected patients on first-line drugs too weak to battle the aggressive strain effectively rather than risk the overuse of last-resort medications that would only feed drug resistance. And in Africa in particular...
...poorest parts of the world, where medical equipment has to be both affordable and robust. Where clinic staff lack the advanced lab resources to culture TB samples, they test for TB by smear microscopy - a laborious and often ineffective process in which a patient coughs up some sputum and a technician looks at the sample under a microscope, trying to pick out the bacteria by eye. That method "is very good at finding people who are infectious," says Liz Corbett, a clinical researcher from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who works with TB patients in Zimbabwe...
...researchers still need to fine-tune their technology so it can be mass-produced cheaply. They also need a better method for treating sputum so it's ready for GCMS analysis. In 2009, Corbett will run a preliminary trial for them with 1,200 Zimbabweans suspected of having TB. If that evaluation goes well, the Wellcome Trust has said it will find a company to mass-produce the machine...
...Fortunately, say CDC experts, Speaker does not seem extremely contagious; while lab tests for the tuberculosis bacterium are positive, he has not yet produced evidence of the bug in his sputum, and, at last report, was not coughing. Still, erring on the side of caution, the U.S. health agency is offering every passenger on the two international flights taken by Speaker the opportunity to get tested...
...occurring radioactive gas. The government estimates that 1 in 15 U.S. homes has radon levels that are too high. The best advice is to have your home tested. If you are worried that you might have symptoms of lung cancer-- such as a persistent cough, especially with blood-tinged sputum, or unintentional weight loss--get a checkup...