Number of tuberculosis cases still high – Specialist

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KUALA LUMPUR – The number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the country is still high, said a respiratory medicine specialist.

Dr Zamzurina Abu Bakar from the Respiratory Medicine Institute of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, who expressed her concern about the trend, said although the number of TB cases dropped to 23,644 last year compared to more than 26,000 cases in 2019, it has to be addressed immediately.

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People’s perception that TB is just a common cough is less accurate because the disease is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted through the air and one TB patient can infect 10 people, she said.

“If a TB patient, especially pulmonary tuberculosis or laryngeal tuberculosis, talks, laughs, sings, sneezes or coughs, (he) can spread the TB germs through the air.

“…when the second person comes, the germs can be inhaled by the second person and subsequently infecting (the second person),” she told Bernama today.

Dr Zamzurina was commenting on efforts to raise public awareness about the disease in conjunction with World Tuberculosis Day, annually held on March 24, to mark the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB.

Among the symptoms of tuberculosis are cough that lasts more than two weeks or longer, common fever in the evening until early morning, night sweats, loss of appetite and weight loss.

“It is not easy to kill TB germs, we need a minimum of six months of treatment.

“High-risk groups are those living in crowded areas, as well as those who have weak immune system, especially HIV and cancer patients, smokers, as well as those taking various medications such as autoimmune patients,” she said.

Dr Zamzurina also said that there were still undetectable cases of tuberculosis in the country.

She said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had stressed the need to reduce tuberculosis cases globally to eradicate the respiratory disease by 2030.

“Tuberculosis is curable, and if we get the treatment, we will be safe and not be infected again, but sometimes we could get infected again from someone else,” she said.

— BERNAMA

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