SOUTH AFRICA:HEALTH AUTHORITIES in South Africa said yesterday they were sending out a team in protective clothing to search for tuberculosis patients who escaped from hospital.
The missing patients are suffering from a drug-resistant strain of the illness, and three have the extremely dangerous XDR-TB.
The break-out from the Jose Pearson hospital in Port Elizabeth reportedly took place after a security guard allowed one patient with XDR-TB to go shopping. The others protested when they were not allowed out, overpowered the guards and ran off.
The provincial health authority said three of the 19 patients who escaped had returned to their families, who would bring them back to hospital. National radio reported that 12 had returned to the hospital.
In December, 49 patients with drug-resistant TB escaped from the same hospital. Court orders were obtained to force them back into hospital. - (Guardian service)