Tuberculosis may be on the rise again
WHAT a coincidence! Just as I scramble to compose a piece for my next column, I find myself being advised by Dr. Danielle Yvonne Vinas of the Antipolo Hospital System, Annex IV, to seek admission for pulmonary procedure. Under the lady doctor’s regular watch as patient in the hemodialysis unit of the hospital over the past two years, I had been lately observed to experience a constant lowering of oxygen consumption. Administration of medical oxygen during my thrice weekly dialysis sessions would not seem to cure the deficiency. It’s been only lately that Dr. Vinas finally decided to put me on continuous admission to check what’s wrong with my respiratory system. So, after my first-shift dialysis session that Monday, instead of being sent home, I was made to go through the hospital admission process.
What was immediately noticeable was that instead of being made to queue up the pile of patients, which was the practice, at the Emergency Room, I was all by myself quarantined at what was labeled as an isolation room, there to be accompanied only by my designated permanent watcher. In ordinary cases, watchers come and go, with no limits as to shifting of number and identity. In my case, once you are designated as the permanent watcher, you stay confined to the isolation room as long as I am.
But what’s wrong with me? Why the apparent special treatment?
The last time I remembered a similar procedure was done was when my doctor ordered me to go on a 15-day home quarantine upon being diagnosed with Covid-19. What was being done to me now was almost the same, except that instead of at home, my quarantine was at the hospital.
What I had not realized was that if my ailment were a weather disturbance, I should be in a terrible storm.
An eventual check with my source from the Department of Health (DoH) would disclose that the Philippine battle against infectious diseases has suffered a tremendous blow, with the fight against tuberculosis particularly going down to zero.
“For the longest time,” so says my source, “the information is that the Philippines has been engaging in a battle against infectious diseases, for which the government — particularly the DoH — has launched quite a number of programs primarily designed to prevent casualties.
“In data collated by Statistica, a global organization engaged in statistical research, respiratory ailment tops the list of killer infectious diseases in the country.”
Speaking of infectious diseases, Statistica particularly hinted at tuberculosis (or simply TB), a communicable disease affecting the lungs. Infectious as it is, TB could easily be transmitted to another person through the air we breathe when unknowing TB carriers cough, sneeze or spit.
On the list of the top 10 leading illnesses, six are related to TB, which makes it more imperative for the government to address a growing concern the way it did during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) data, TB incidence in the Philippines was pegged at 741,000. Of this number, around 61,000 people died.
Interestingly, the DoH data showed less than half of what was recorded by the WHO, which has been using a variation of extensive methods depending on the region. In our case, WHO used something that suits the demographics in Southeast Asia.
With the WHO data released three years ago, there is a mathematical probability that TB cases in the country may have already surpassed the 1 million mark since the government has been preoccupied battling the pandemic.
Hence the need to address the problem with utmost urgency.
While TB is an infectious disease, modern-day science showed that it can be cured but only if the government can act on it with a sense of urgency — just like what the entire world did during the Covid-19 pandemic which effectively put the global economy at a standstill.
According to the WHO, about a quarter of the global population has been infected with TB bacteria. Of that figure, 5 to 10 percent have developed fullblown TB, for which treatment is imperative to prevent the spread of the disease — or worse, death.
There are quite a number of people who are vulnerable to TB infection — those who are into cigarette smoking, people suffering from diabetes (high blood sugar), persons deemed with weak immune system (immunocompromised) and malnourished.
Interestingly, TB, which targets the lungs, also affects the kidneys, brain, spine and skin.
While TB is curable, the better approach is prevention as most medical professionals would recommend.
But with persisting symptoms, it is advisable for people to seriously consider the idea of seeking medical attention over prolonged cough, fever and unexplained weight loss as early treatment for TB can help stop the spread of disease and improve chances of recovery.
For those who are into cigarette smoking, suffering from diabetes (high blood sugar), immunocompromised and malnourished, the doctor’s advice is to get tested for TB infection.
If prescribed treatment to prevent TB is advised, complete the full course, while practicing good hygiene when coughing, including avoiding contact with other people and wearing a mask, covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and disposing of sputum and used tissues properly.
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