March 24th has been established by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and the World Health Organisation as World Tuberculosis Day.
Every day worldwide, more than 4,000 people lose their lives to tuberculosis and about 30,000 people are diagnosed with this disease. Since 2000, coordinated efforts globally have helped treat 58 million people. It is important to intensify efforts to eliminate it, as it remains a leading cause of death worldwide from a single infectious agent.
To achieve tuberculosis control in European Union member states, two key issues must be addressed:
• Tuberculosis is the most common cause of death for people with AIDS.
• The number of patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is continuously increasing.
In Greece, based on EODY’s epidemiological data, an average of 580 cases of tuberculosis are reported each year, with the number of reported cases and the reported incidence of the disease showing a small downward trend during 2004-2017. From available data, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of tuberculosis cases in patients belonging to vulnerable social groups (refugees/immigrants, prisoners, illegal substance users, immunocompromised, etc.) and isolation rates of multi-resistant strains of the tuberculosis mycobacterium close to the European countries’ average.
The Cause and Transmission of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is caused by a microbe called tuberculosis mycobacterium or Koch’s bacillus, in honour of the doctor who isolated it in 1882. It is a life-threatening infection that primarily affects the lungs and has plagued humanity for millennia.
Symptoms
The symptoms characterising the disease are persistent cough, fatigue, weight loss, night sweats, loss of appetite, fever and haemoptysis. Once a person becomes ill and if they don’t receive appropriate treatment, the disease is not limited to the lungs but can spread to bones, kidneys, brain, etc.
Treatment
Because tuberculosis bacteria grow slowly, treatment for active infection is time-consuming – antibiotics are usually taken for six to twelve months to destroy the bacillus. The exact duration of medication and treatment depends on age, overall health, sensitivity test results and whether you have active or inactive tuberculosis.
Prevention
The best way to control tuberculosis is to diagnose and treat individuals with tuberculosis before they develop active disease. There is also a tuberculosis vaccine which can be administered during childhood when it is most effective.
In our country, it’s time for:
• Reliable mapping of the disease’s epidemiological picture.
• Training and awareness of healthcare professionals.
• Staffing and operation of necessary anti-tuberculosis clinics.
• Active search and treatment of active and latent tuberculosis among vulnerable population groups.
• Early diagnosis of all forms of tuberculosis.
• Equal access to quality treatment and continuous care for all patients with tuberculosis.
It’s time for action! It’s time to eliminate tuberculosis.
