Paediatric Tuberculosis: A Severe Global Health Crisis That Needs To Be Addressed With Periodic Screenings
India accounts for 31 per cent the global paediatric Tuberculosis (TB) burden. PTB is one of the major causes of child mortality globally.
Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease that can cause debilitating symptoms. Timely treatment is the key to overcoming this condition. Globally, tuberculosis or TB is one of the 10 leading causes of death, observes the World Health Organization. In India, the death toll of this disease, which primarily attacks the lungs, was 423,000 in 2017 alone, reveals the Union Health Ministry’s National Anti-TB Drug Resistance Survey, 2018. The total burden of this condition that year was 1.8 million.
Tuberculosis is an airborne, infectious lung disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. This contagious infection can also spread to your brain, spine and other organs. The prominent symptoms of TB are severe cough that lasts for three weeks or longer, bloody or discoloured sputum, fever, fatigue, pain in the chest, breathing difficulty, loss of appetite, so on and so forth. Tuberculosis is curable after six to nine months of treatment.
A tuberculosis infection can be present in your body in two forms: Latent and active. Here’s what you should know about Latent and active TB.
Latent TB: In this condition, the germs are present in your body, but your immune system doesn’t let them spread. Also, you don’t experience symptoms, nor are you contagious. But the germs may become active at any point of time, especially if your immune system is compromised for some reason. HIV or any other long-term infection can weaken your immune cells.
Active TB: In this condition, the germs multiply, and you get symptom. A person with active TB can be contagious. According to experts, about 90 per cent of active TB infections stem from a latent one.
You will experience signs and symptoms only if you have Active TB. As already mentioned, TB primarily attacks your lungs and may spread to other organs of the body too including your brain, spine, skin and intestines. Here are some of the symptoms you should watch out for:
You get tuberculosis from the air just the way one catches a cold and flu. When a person with TB coughs, sneezes, talks or laughs, bacteria-loaded droplets are sprayed into the air. You will catch this bacterial infection if you happen to breathe in these germs. However, it’s tough to catch tuberculosis. You can get it only if you are around someone with a lot of TB bacteria in the lungs for a long period of time. There bare high chances of catching this infection from colleagues, close friends and family members. The tuberculosis bacteria can’t survive on surfaces. So, you can’t get it by touching anything, shaking hands or sharing food and drinks.
There are several risk factors that can escalate your risk of catching TB infection. You are likely to be more vulnerable to this condition if:
This lung infection can lead to a few other health complications like:
The diagnosis of this condition necessitates multiple tests. Here is a low-down on them.
Skin test: In this test, also known as the Mantoux tuberculin skin test, involves the injection of a fluid into the skin of your lower arm. You will be checked for swelling after a gap of 2-3 days. A positive reading confirms that you have TB infection. However, this isn’t a very reliable test because there are chances of false positive and false negative. Your results may be false positive if you’ve been vaccinated with the TB vaccine known as BCG. The chance of a false positive increases if you have a new infection.
Blood test: Known as interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs), these tests inform your physician about your body’s response when TB proteins are mixed with a little amount of blood.
Other Tests: In order to figure out the type of tuberculosis (active or latent), your doctor will recommend a chest X-ray, CT scan or sputum test.
Your doctor will decide on the line of treatment on the basis of the type of tuberculosis you have. The medicines need to be taken for six to 12 months for complete cure and prevention of a relapse.
If you have latent TB, your doctor will prescribe one or multiple drugs to kill the bacteria and prevent the infection from being active. The medicines include isoniazid, rifapentine, or rifampin. You need to take them for up to nine either alone or combined. You’ll have to take the drugs for up to 9 months. For active TB, your doctor may prescribe ethambutol, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and rifampin which you need to take for 6 to 12 months. These particular medicines can affect your liver. So you may need treatment for this vital organ as well while on TB medication.
Malnourished people are more vulnerable to TB infection and its relapse. Lack of proper nutrition negatively depletes the efficiency of your immune cells to defend you against germs including the tough tuberculosis bacteria. So, you need to feed it right with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to help it fight the germs. Here is what you should eat:
Although almost all of us are potentially exposed to TB in our lifetime. However, only some people catch the infection. Here are the ways to keep it at bay:
Vaccination: All newborns and infants should be administered the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to protect them against TB. The vaccine enables the child to develop antibodies against the causative organism (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) of TB.
Immunity: A healthy lifestyle may prevent TB. Include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Eat a complete meal that includes carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Quit smoking and drinking alcohol, exercise regularly and stay fit.
Good hygiene: Simple hygienic practices like covering the mouth while coughing, refraining from spitting in public places Should be followed.
India accounts for 31 per cent the global paediatric Tuberculosis (TB) burden. PTB is one of the major causes of child mortality globally.
India is aiming to eliminate Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025. Here are some significant challenges faced by country in controlling the infectious disease.
Tuberculosis is not essentially a disease of the poor but poverty makes it hard to come out of it.
World Tuberculosis Day: According to the WHO, more than 95 percent of TB deaths happen in low and middle-income countries. Read on to know hoe you can prevent the disease.
The treatment of bone and spine TB poses unique challenges due to the difficulty in delivering antibiotics to the infected area.
How Does TB Vaccine Work? Know The Role Of Tuberculosis Vaccination In Controlling And Preventing Disease.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health threat globally, with India carrying the highest burden. Here's how to 'STOP' Tuberculosis.
Yoga Expert shares five yoga poses that may help alleviate TB symptoms.
Surgeries can be performed from the front or the back. Front surgeries were done in the past with relatively more complications.
BCG booster dose: High hopes from this 100-year-old vaccine, treatment of corona and diabetes will also be possible!
It is essential to tackle genital TB as soon as it is detected. Read on to know the warning signs and symptoms as well as how it is treated.
World tuberculosis day is observed on March 24 every year to raise awareness about the disease. Read on to know how the community can intervene to prevent and control the spread of TB.
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly hampered the efforts of health officials to eradicate tuberculosis from India. In fact, it has made matters worse. Here's how!
India has the highest number of unreported tuberculosis cases in the world. TB deaths in the country are more than other South Asian neighbours.
People who recovered from TB need to be extra cautious, as one may suffer from its sequalae even years after successful treatment, say doctors.
Tuberculosis of the uterus and female genital system is extremely common in India. It can even increase the risk of infertility, childlessness, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and more. Here's how to mitigate the risk.
India has 27 per cent of world's multidrug-resistant TB cases, as per Global TB report 2020.
Patients who have recovered from Covid-19 may be at increased risk of TB infections due to the impaired immune system of the body.
India accounts for 31 per cent the global paediatric Tuberculosis (TB) burden. PTB is one of the major causes of child mortality globally.
India is aiming to eliminate Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025. Here are some significant challenges faced by country in controlling the infectious disease.
World Tuberculosis Day: According to the WHO, more than 95 percent of TB deaths happen in low and middle-income countries. Read on to know hoe you can prevent the disease.
The treatment of bone and spine TB poses unique challenges due to the difficulty in delivering antibiotics to the infected area.
How Does TB Vaccine Work? Know The Role Of Tuberculosis Vaccination In Controlling And Preventing Disease.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health threat globally, with India carrying the highest burden. Here's how to 'STOP' Tuberculosis.
Yoga Expert shares five yoga poses that may help alleviate TB symptoms.
Surgeries can be performed from the front or the back. Front surgeries were done in the past with relatively more complications.
BCG booster dose: High hopes from this 100-year-old vaccine, treatment of corona and diabetes will also be possible!
It is essential to tackle genital TB as soon as it is detected. Read on to know the warning signs and symptoms as well as how it is treated.
World tuberculosis day is observed on March 24 every year to raise awareness about the disease. Read on to know how the community can intervene to prevent and control the spread of TB.
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly hampered the efforts of health officials to eradicate tuberculosis from India. In fact, it has made matters worse. Here's how!
India has the highest number of unreported tuberculosis cases in the world. TB deaths in the country are more than other South Asian neighbours.
People who recovered from TB need to be extra cautious, as one may suffer from its sequalae even years after successful treatment, say doctors.
Tuberculosis of the uterus and female genital system is extremely common in India. It can even increase the risk of infertility, childlessness, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and more. Here's how to mitigate the risk.
India has 27 per cent of world's multidrug-resistant TB cases, as per Global TB report 2020.
Patients who have recovered from Covid-19 may be at increased risk of TB infections due to the impaired immune system of the body.
Door-to-door TB screening campaign will help detect and diagnose millions of patients that go undiagnosed every year, says Sriram Natarajan, CEO of Molbio Diagnostics.
Must be aware of these ways to prevent tuberculosis
Tuberculosis can be fatal if not diagnosed at the right time. So know the symptoms of TB to spread awareness about it.
Some diseases and infections are highly contagious and the patient has to be kept in isolation, or quarantine, to prevent the infection from spreading.
Have a new born? Here are a list of vaccines your child should get.
Here's how tuberculosis can be prevented by implementing simple preatuionary measures.
Don’t Miss Out on the Latest Updates.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter Today!
