Deadly TB strain on the increase
Sep 30, 2007
A deadly strain of tuberculosis (TB) is on the increase in Uganda, the Uganda National Association of Nurses and Midwives has warned.
By Gladys Kalibbala
A deadly strain of tuberculosis (TB) is on the increase in Uganda, the Uganda National Association of Nurses and Midwives has warned.
Janet Obuni, the association’s president, on Saturday said each carrier of the drug-resistant disease was capable of infecting about 20 people in a lifetime.
“Without strict precautions, a bigger number of people will be infected because this type of TB is dangerous as most of the infected people stay with their families. The congestion in urban area and other places may also add to the infection risks.â€
A medical staff at Mulago Hospital revealed that they had recorded 71 cases of the deadly TB strain.
“So far, there is no clear medication for the patients.
The strain threatens to cause a global pandemic, but in Uganda its magnitude is not yet established.â€
Other cases were reported in Arua, Mbarara, Kabale, Mbale and Soroti districts, Obuni said.
Addressing journalists in Entebbe, Obuni appealed to the Government to intervene.
Ten members of the association from different districts returned from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where they were trained in methods of tackling the serious disease.
“Although we have received some training in the management of multi-resistant TB from an international body, we still need the Government to avail us drugs in order to check the disease before it runs out of hand,†Obuni said.
FACTS ABOUT Tuberculosis
- TB is spread through air. When infectious people cough, sneeze, talk or spit, they propel TB germs, known as bacilli, into the air. - Aperson needs only to inhale a small number of these to be infected
- If the bacteria overcome the body’s immune system, the person becomes ill - Drug-resistant TB is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment - Symptoms include chest pain, coughing up blood, a productive, prolonged cough for more than three weeks, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, no appetite,chills, fever, sweating at night - TB is a preventable disease. The best way to control TB is to diagnose and treat people before they develop active disease and to take careful precautions with people hospitalised with TB
A deadly strain of tuberculosis (TB) is on the increase in Uganda, the Uganda National Association of Nurses and Midwives has warned.
Janet Obuni, the association’s president, on Saturday said each carrier of the drug-resistant disease was capable of infecting about 20 people in a lifetime.
“Without strict precautions, a bigger number of people will be infected because this type of TB is dangerous as most of the infected people stay with their families. The congestion in urban area and other places may also add to the infection risks.â€
A medical staff at Mulago Hospital revealed that they had recorded 71 cases of the deadly TB strain.
“So far, there is no clear medication for the patients.
The strain threatens to cause a global pandemic, but in Uganda its magnitude is not yet established.â€
Other cases were reported in Arua, Mbarara, Kabale, Mbale and Soroti districts, Obuni said.
Addressing journalists in Entebbe, Obuni appealed to the Government to intervene.
Ten members of the association from different districts returned from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where they were trained in methods of tackling the serious disease.
“Although we have received some training in the management of multi-resistant TB from an international body, we still need the Government to avail us drugs in order to check the disease before it runs out of hand,†Obuni said.
FACTS ABOUT Tuberculosis
- TB is spread through air. When infectious people cough, sneeze, talk or spit, they propel TB germs, known as bacilli, into the air. - Aperson needs only to inhale a small number of these to be infected
- If the bacteria overcome the body’s immune system, the person becomes ill - Drug-resistant TB is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment - Symptoms include chest pain, coughing up blood, a productive, prolonged cough for more than three weeks, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, no appetite,chills, fever, sweating at night - TB is a preventable disease. The best way to control TB is to diagnose and treat people before they develop active disease and to take careful precautions with people hospitalised with TB