* Tuberculosis has come back "with a vengeance" in Europe 
 
 * More than 80,000 cases in WHO's European region each year 
 
 * Drug-resistant strains can take years to treat, many patients die 
 
 By Kate Kelland 
 
 LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (TB) are spreading at an alarming rate in Europe and will kill thousands unless health authorities halt the pandemic, the World Health Organisation(WHO) said on Wednesday. 
 
 Launching a new regional plan to find, diagnose and treat cases of the airborne infectious disease more effectively, the WHO's European director warned that complacency had allowed a resurgence of TB and failure to tackle it now would mean huge human and economic costs in the future. 
 
 "TB is an old disease that never went away, and now it is evolving with a vengeance," said Zsuzsanna Jakab, the WHO's Regional Director for Europe. 
 
 "The numbers are scary," Lucica Ditiu, executive secretary of the Stop TB Partnership told a news conference in London. "This is a very dramatic situation." 
 
 TB is currently a worldwide pandemic that kills around 1.7 million people a year. The infection is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis and destroys patients' lung tissue, causing them to cough up the bacteria, which then spreads through the air and can be inhaled by others. 
 
 Cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) -- where the infections are resistant to first-line and then second-line antibiotic treatments -- are spreading fast, with about 440,000 new patients every year around the world. 
 
 According to the WHO and Stop TB, 15 of the 27 countries with the highest burden of MDR-TB are in the WHO's European region, which includes 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia. 
 
 More than 80,000 MDR-TB cases occur in the region each year -- almost a fifth of the world's total. The WHO said precise figures for XDR-TB are not available because most countries lack the facilities to diagnose it, but officially reported cases of XDR-TB increased six-fold between 2008 and 2009. 
 
 Rates are highest in eastern Europe and Central Asia, but many countries in western Europe have increasing rates of TB and drug-resistant TB, Ditiu said. Britain's capital, London, has the highest TB rate of any capital city in western Europe with around 3,500 cases a year, 2 percent of which are MDR-TB. 
 
 Treating even normal TB is a long and unpleasant process, with patients needing to take a combination of powerful antibiotics for 6 months. Many patients fail to correctly complete the course of medicines, a factor which has fueled a rise in drug-resistant forms of the disease. 
 
 Treatment regimes for MDR-TB and XDR-TB can stretch into two or more years, costing up to $16,000 in drugs alone and up to $200,000 to $300,000 per patient if isolation hospital costs, medical care and other resources are taken into account. 
 
 Experts say around 7 percent of patients with straightforward TB die, and that death rate rises to around 50 percent of patients with drug-resistant forms. 
 
 The WHO's action plan for tackling tuberculosis emphasises the need for doctors and patients to be more aware of the disease and its symptoms, to diagnose and treat cases promptly with the right drugs, and follow patients up over many months or years to ensure they take their medications. 
 
 If that doesn't happen "not only are these people quietly and painfully dying, they are also spreading the disease," Ditiu said. 
 
 The WHO said that if the plan is fully implemented -- at an estimated cost of $5 billion -- 127,000 people will be successfully treated for drug-resistant TB and 120,000 deaths will be averted by 2015. 
 
 The cost would also be recouped, since 250 000 MDR-TB and 13,000 XDR-TB cases will be prevented, saving $7 billion in averted treatment costs, the WHO said. It added that prevention of premature deaths among TB patients would add to economic productivity in the region and generate an extra $5 billion. (Reporting by Kate Kelland) ||||| The UK has been using opportunistic X-rays to detect undiagnosed cases of TB 
 
 A plan has been drawn up to try to tackle cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis in 53 European countries. 
 
 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described the problem as "alarming". 
 
 Eastern Europe has the highest level of infection, while in Western Europe, London has the highest TB rate of any capital city. 
 
 The WHO estimates there are 81,000 cases of drug-resistant TB a year in Europe, although many countries are failing to diagnose it. 
 
 The plan aims to increase diagnosis and access to treatment. Experts believe it has the potential to save several billion pounds and 120,000 lives by 2015. 
 
 European problem 
 
 Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan are among the countries with the highest burden of illness. 
 
 We cannot be complacent - the cost of each case can be several hundred thousand pounds. Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, Health Protection Agency 
 
 TB cases in the UK are concentrated in large cities. There are 3,500 cases in London each year. 
 
 In 2009, there were 58 cases of drug-resistant TB in the UK. Resistance can arise if patients fail to complete their course of medication. 
 
 The Health Protection Agency's TB expert, Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, said: "Although the overall numbers are small, the trend has been for an increase in the past decade. 
 
 "We cannot be complacent. The cost of managing each case can stretch to several hundred thousand pounds. 
 
 "So it's significant - and while that person is infectious, other people can get TB. 
 
 "The larger numbers in Eastern Europe represent a failure to take action." 
 
 He urged GPs and casualty departments to be vigilant for possible cases. 
 
 Six weeks later came the depressing news that none of the three antibiotics were effective Anna Watterson, Drug-resistant TB survivor 
 
 TB is an airborne infection which still proves fatal in about 7% of cases. Almost half of patients with the multi-drug resistant form of the disease die. 
 
 The WHO has praised the UK's "Find and Treat" service, which uses a mobile X-ray van to screen homeless people and drug addicts for TB. 
 
 Dr Ogtay Gozalov, from the WHO's Europe office, said: "It's not just the vulnerable populations like migrants and prisoners - all of us could be exposed. 
 
 "If member states don't take action now, there could be a dramatic situation in the future." 
 
 Cocktail of drugs 
 
 Barrister Anna Watterson spoke of how she became ill with drug-resistant TB when she was a law student living in north-west London. 
 
 She made a full recovery but missed a year of studying and spent four months in hospital. 
 
 She said: "I had a cough I couldn't shake off. I lost weight and had night sweats. 
 
 "I visited my GP a few times but TB wasn't suspected because of my background and age - I was in my mid-20s. 
 
 "Once I'd been admitted to hospital, I started the standard three-drug regime. 
 
 "But six weeks later came the depressing news that none of the three antibiotics were effective. I had the impression the doctors were scraping the barrel. 
 
 "The next cocktail of drugs left me feeling unwell. I had bruises from injecting them, and one of the side-effects was sensitivity to the sun. 
 
 "As a pale-skinned redhead, this meant having to wear gloves when I went outside in the summer."
– Ominous news from WHO: Incredibly drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis are coursing through Europe, and will kill tens of thousands unless health officials intervene. WHO's regional director blamed the resurgence on complacency, noted that the disease "is evolving with a vengeance," and announced the creation of a plan intended to stamp out the pandemic. Reuters reports that documented cases of extensively drug-resistant TB ballooned six-fold between 2008 and 2009, and notes that these drug-resistant forms—which don't respond to first- and second-line courses of antibiotics—typically kill 50% of those who contract it. WHO estimates 81,000 cases of drug-resistant TB surface in Europe each year, reports the BBC. Treatment comes at a steep price for these types of TB: It can take more than two years to treat with $16,000 worth of drugs. Add potential isolation hospital costs and medical care to that, and the total can balloon above $300,000. WHO's $5 billion plan would actually save $7 billion in treatment costs, it says, and would save 120,000 lives by 2015. The plan focuses on raising awareness of the disease's symptoms among doctors and patients, getting those who contract it the right drugs immediately, and tracking them to make sure they take the medication.