By Henrylito D. Tacio
“Tuberculosis (TB) is preventable, treatable, and curable, and yet this ancient scourge that has afflicted humanity for millennia continues to cause suffering and death for millions every year,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), during the occasion on World TB Day (March 24).
TB remains one of the world’s top infectious killers, causing 1.6 million deaths each year and affecting millions more, with enormous impacts on families and communities, the Geneva-based United Nations health agency says.
“The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with ongoing crises such as armed conflict, food insecurity, climate change, political and economic instability, has reversed years of progress made in the fight against TB,” the WHO says.
Last year, for the first time in nearly two decades, WHO reported an increase in the number of people falling ill with TB and drug-resistant TB, alongside an increase in deaths.
In the Philippines, 70 Filipinos die daily from TB, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
“We are only one of the eight countries that account for two-thirds of the estimated global cases,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH officer-in-charge. “The Philippines is also the fourth-largest contributor of TB cases at 7 percent of the global total.
“For every 100,000 Filipinos, an estimated 650 individuals were infected with TB in 2021, a huge difference from our 554 per 100,000 from the previous year,” she added.
Just like the dreaded coronavirus disease virus, the bacteria that caused TB is spread through the air from one person to another. ““When a person breathes in TB bacteria, the bacteria can settle in the lungs and begin to grow,” the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains. “From there, they can move through the blood to other parts of the body, such as the kidney, spine, and brain.”
The CDC says TB is not spread by shaking someone’s hand, sharing food or drink, touching bed linens or toilet seats, sharing toothbrushes, and kissing. “The disease is almost never transmitted through clothes, bedding, or other personal items,” assures the book, The Medical Advisor: The Complete Guide to Alternative and Conventional Treatments.
TB is almost always associated with poverty.
“Our problem with TB is a vicious cycle,” Dr. Vergeire said. “This disease primarily affects the poor as poverty exposes individuals to TB’s risk factors, such as poor nutrition, crowded and poorly ventilated environments, smoking, alcohol use disorders, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and diabetes.”
But rich people are not spared from the disease. Wuthering Heights author Emily Jane Bronte was stricken with the disease and was only 30 when she died of it. Hollywood actress Vivien Leigh and English actor Denholm Mitchell Elliott also succumbed to TB.
Filipino actors Rene Requiestas and Narding Anzures also died of the disease. Even President Manuel L. Quezon was not spared.
“After subjecting me to a rigorous physical and fluoroscopic examination, the doctor diagnosed my case as tuberculosis of the lungs,” Quezon said in a speech delivered during the dedication ceremonies of the Quezon Institute, a sanatorium for TB. “I was then ignorant of this disease. I had always felt vigorous and healthy throughout my life and had never thought seriously of diseases.”
Not all who are infected with TB bacteria develop the disease. According to health experts, a person’s immune system may destroy the bacteria completely. In fact, only 5-10 percent of those infected with TB actually become sick.
The four most familiar signs of TB are chronic cough, mild fever in the afternoon and sweating at night, chest and back pain, and progressive weight loss. In more serious or advanced cases, the symptoms are spitting blood, pale and waxy skin, and a hoarse voice.
In the Philippines, the government is spending money to treat TB. TB treatment is free in public hospitals, clinics and health centers. But studies showed about 60% of Filipinos with TB go to private doctors for comfort and anonymity. They spend for consultation, diagnostic tests and medicines.
“There is no reason that a person that has TB will not be treated,” said a health official.
“After taking antibiotics for two weeks, most people are no longer infectious and feel better,” the CDC says. “However, it’s important to continue taking your medicine exactly as prescribed and to complete the whole course of antibiotics. Taking medications for 6 months is the best way to ensure the TB bacteria are killed.”
But there are those who may forget to take the prescribed medications. For that reason, directly observed therapy (DOT) is used to make sure a person is taking their medicine. DOT means a trained healthcare worker provides each dose of medication, watches the patient swallow it, and documents that the medication has been taken.
Those who fail to take the prescribed medications and the number of days they should be taken may develop drug-resistant TB. Today, this has become “to be a pressing public health concern, taking a significant toll on individuals affected by TB, communities, and healthcare systems worldwide.”
In 2021, nearly half a million people fell ill with multi-drug resistant TB and only one in three accessed treatments.
“Drug-resistant TB has a very expensive treatment,” the DOH claims. – ###
