RESEARCH ARTICLE
Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) - A Potential Threat in Ireland
Anne Marie Mc Laughlin1, *, Rory A O’Donnell1, Noel Gibbons2, Mary Scully3, Darina O’Flangan4, Joseph Keane1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2007Volume: 1
First Page: 7
Last Page: 9
Publisher ID: TORMJ-1-7
DOI: 10.2174/1874306400701010007
Article History:
Received Date: 23/11/2007Revision Received Date: 29/11/2007
Acceptance Date: 5/12/2007
Electronic publication date: 15/12/2007
Collection year: 2007

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
We describe a case of a 25 year old female from Lithuania who presented with a productive cough. Chest radiograph demonstrated an infiltrate in the left upper lobe and a cavitating lesion in the right middle lobe. Sensitivity testing of her sputum led to a diagnosis of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). This is the first case in Ireland and highlights the need for physicians to be aware of the possibility of XDR-TB. Moreover it underlines the need for im-provement in service provision in terms of a TB reference laboratory and TB clinics.