Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - September 10, 2006
Phindile Chauke

Diagnosed with tuberculosis four years ago when she was still at high school, Makeleni defaulted on her medication and, about a year later, her health deteriorated. Eventually she was told she had the multi-drug-resistant (MDR) strain of TB.

As she spoke to the Sunday Times at her family home in Albertsdal, south of Johannesburg, this week, Makeleni's bubbly personality made up for her fragile frame.

When she was diagnosed with MDR-TB Makeleni was studying in the field of tourism and faced the prospect of a UK modelling contract. But her health deteriorated after she had completed only one big advertisement - a Coca-Cola billboard.

She quickly lost too much weight and that put paid to her dream of being a cover girl.

Her TB-induced "anorexic" body sparked rumours in her neighbourhood that she was HIV-positive.

"I vomit all the time, cough and simply don't have an appetite. I sometimes cannot sleep because I cough all night," she said

Since being diagnosed with MDR-TB she takes between 13 and 19 pills a day. This is not pleasant, but she knows that unless she takes the cocktail diligently every day, she could develop the deadly form of the disease, XDR-TB.

This week, for the first time, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a warning about the killer strain, which has already killed dozens in South Africa.

A recent survey on XDR-TB cases in rural KwaZulu-Natal carried out by the WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found a high death rate among those diagnosed.

The study of 544 patients found that 221 had MDR-TB, the strain Makeleni suffers from.

Of these, 53 developed XDR-TB. (Forty-four of them had tested positive for HIV.)

Only one of the 53 survived - the rest died within 25 days of being diagnosed with the killer strain.

Since the survey, more people have died from XDR-TB, which it is feared might spread westwards through the Eastern Cape and beyond.

Makeleni considers herself lucky because she is not HIV-positive - those with the Aids virus are at greater risk of contracting the deadly strain of TB because of their compromised immune systems. Still, the drugs have affected her hearing.

When news of XDR-TB broke this week, Makeleni was relieved - she hoped that finally people would accept that she is not HIV-positive.

But she is petrified of getting sicker and of being bedridden again.

"All I wish for now is that they soon find the right drugs. I want to get better, to have a normal life."

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