Testimonials

In this section, you will watch and read stories from distinguished patients. The stories used were adopted from The Global Antibiotic Resistance Foundation. 

Story 1:

Story 2:

“I HOPE MY CHILDREN WILL HAVE A GREAT LIFE” The Kyrgyz family of Zarina got hit hard by extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). The mother of five children first lost her husband due to XDR-TB. She herself and her two youngest sons Nursultan and Danyar also fell ill with this form of drug-resistant TB.

It all started when my husband got sick, tells Zarina (37) in the living room/bedroom of her house on the outskirts of Bishkek with the snowy mountains as a backdrop. “When he was diagnosed with TB, he initially started the treatment. At that time he was still on the old regimen. He soon gave up.” Later on Zarina’s husband was diagnosed with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and then XDR-TB after not treating his infection with TB properly.  

Also two of Zarina’s children, Nursultan (7) and Danyar (8), were diagnosed with XDR-TB. The two boys were first hospitalized for three months. Then they continued their treatment at home using Video Observed Treatment (VOT). This is a digital adherence tool which KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation (KNCV) has introduced in Kyrgyzstan. Patients show they take their daily pills by sending videos through to the health care worker with a smartphone the family got supplied with. Fortunately, the boys received the new drugs and regimens that were introduced in Kyrgyzstan some years ago as part of the USAID-funded, KNCV-led Challenge TB project. The new treatment models are not only more effective in curing the disease, but they are also easier for patients to follow. The new drugs have fewer side effects. For patients with MDR-TB, the treatment is shorter: between nine and 12 months, instead of 24.

Despite the new drugs the boys still had problems with some side effects. Zarina: “I used to mix the pills with yoghurt but it made them throw up. Danyar also got mental problems. He would throw with things. The KNCV case manager helped us a lot. We are very thankful to her.”

Zarina used to work in the nearby hospital. But she also got infected with TB, fell sick and couldn’t work during the treatment. “I received treatment for six months. With six pills a day.” She really suffered with both herself, her husband and her two children sick. Her younger brother helped her and the family received food aid from the Red Cross. At the end her husband lived at home and couldn’t work. He just drank and smoked. Zarina: “I used to tell him: “Don’t give up”. Stop drinking and smoking. He said no. He said he didn’t believe in the treatment. He died a year ago.” Due to their treatment the kids and Zarina got better. The family now has hope again. Danyar wants to become a doctor when he grows up and help children. Nursultan wants to become a police man “to catch bad guys who steal money”. Zarina is happy that she and the kids are recovered. “I just hope it won’t come back again and that my kids will have a great life.”

Story 3:

It was only a minor injury, but a flesh-eating bacterium soon became fatal to Philip.

ÖLÜDENIZ – A man who slipped at a waterfall in Turkey and suffered a small cut eventually died due to an infection of a flesh-eating superbug.

65-year-old Philip Maile was in Ölüdeniz, Turkey, when he stepped through a rotten board and scraped his leg during a day trip. The Englishman was wise enough to visit a pharmacy with his wife Vanessa. There he was advised to go swimming in the Aegean Sea with a waterproof plaster.

After a few days, his leg turned black and blue and the discoloration increased rapidly. Philip was rushed to a hospital in Antalya where they diagnosed the life-threatening infection with Vibrio vulnificus. Surgeons tried to prevent the bacteria from spreading throughout the body by amputating his leg above the knee.

Soon after, his body developed such a strong reaction to the blood poisoning that his organs gave up. His children, who had flown in in a hurry, witnessed his death in the hospital.

His 32-year-old daughter Charlotte told British media that she was still stunned “that such a small scratch can have such devastating consequences.” “It looked like nothing more than a scrape. I don’t want to scare people, because it’s a very rare reaction, but still.” She wants to warn people not to swim in open water if you have a wound, no matter how small.

The Vibrio vulnificus bacteria that Philip contracted in 2022 normally lives in warm seawater and can enter the body through open wounds or by eating contaminated seafood.

Treated immediately

Patients need immediate treatment to prevent death and are usually given powerful antibiotics and surgery to remove dead tissue. Preferably within an hour of arriving at the hospital. Every hour of delay in diagnosis increases the risk of dying from sepsis by 1 to 2 percent. But amputation may also be necessary to prevent spread.

Philip’s daughter Charlotte has started a collection to draw attention to the devastating effect of the flesh-eating bacteria. She has already raised £3,000 for a foundation that supports families affected and to raise awareness about the bacteria.