Concern at shortage of TB drugs

South Africa could face one a tuberculosis epidemic because of a shortage of vaccines, the South African daily 'The Star' reported on Wednesday. According to the report, the government had run out of supplies and new imports were not expected to arrive until September. It said that private hospitals and clinics were also battling to acquire the necessary TB vaccines. The reports quoted a letter from the Department of Health dated which said that depots had run out of supplies of BCB percutaneuos vaccine (the TB vaccine given to babies) last month. Recent studies by the Medical Research Council showed that TB infection rates had doubled in most of the country's nine provinces in the last five years and were expected to increase five-fold by 2005.