The beachheads of TB

Tuberculosis is something you want to avoid, everyone knows that. But it is what people don't know about the disease that makes it a continuing serious threat around the world and around Puget Sound.

People will remember the case of the runaway groom, the Atlanta man with drug-resistant tuberculosis who traveled around Europe on his honeymoon while health-care officials tried to track him down. And there was the recent case of a sales clerk at Alderwood Mall.

But tuberculosis is more common than these occasional news bulletins might suggest. In King County last year, 161 people became ill with tuberculosis. About 2 billion people — one-third of the world's population — are infected. About 9 million will become ill and 2 million will die.

Caused by an intractable bacterium, the disease is treatable, but the drug regimen is both exhaustive and exhausting for the patient. Often the treatment — which can last up to nine months — and the strong drugs keep patients ill. But if the regimen is not followed meticulously, the disease could mutate into a form resistant to the drugs, creating a greater challenge to the patient and others exposed.

The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute is trying to come up with drugs that will shorten the regimen and that are easier on patients. Last week, Paul Allen announced his foundation was giving $5 million to the institute. This is his first grant for tuberculosis research and he joins his Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose foundation has given $750 million.

Better drugs are at least 10 years off, said David Sherman, director of the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute's tuberculosis-research program. But awareness about TB's unique challenges can do much to stop the spread.