Medical doctors have called for measures to prevent cases of latent tuberculosis from worsening into active TB cases which could be fatal.
Dr. Regina Berba, national chairman of PhilCAT and head of the Philippine General Hospital Infection Control Unit said there should be a program for those harboring latent TB or the inactive form of the infection.
She stressed that the program would ensure that those infected won’t develop the active disease and infect others.
Certain individuals, she said, should be tested for TB infection because they are at higher risk of being infected with TB bacteria.
Among these individuals include those who have spent time with someone who has active TB disease; those who live or work in high-risk settings; healthcare workers who look after patients with increased risk for TB infection; as well as infants, children and adolescents who are exposed to adults who may be harboring the active disease form of TB.
Without treatment, she warned developing the active disease can be fatal.
In 2016, 10.4 million people around the world fell ill with TB, and 1.7 million died from the disease.
“TB disease is contagious. Whenever a person with active pulmonary TB coughs, sneezes, speaks or even sings, droplets containing M. tuberculosis are expelled into the air. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected,” said Berba.
Dr. Camilo Roa, founding chair of Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis or PhilCAT said while screening tests such as interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) or even the less accurate yet more affordable tuberculin skin test may be done to these individuals, preventive therapy may already be given without these screening tests considering their exposure risk as recommended by the WHO for those <5 years old with exposure to active TB disease and people living with HIV.
He also said identifying this group of patients and providing them with preventive therapy may hold the key to curbing TB cases in the Philippines where prevalence rate remained high at 1,159 per 100,000 Filipinos, citing the 2016 National Tuberculosis Prevalence Survey.
The disease remains a major cause of death and economic suffering among Filipinos—in 2015, 14,000 Filipinos died from tuberculosis, while 4.8 million, mostly poor, contracted the disease.
What is more worrisome, he said, is that about 5 percent from this group with latent TB infection—that’s 1.5 million Filipinos—will develop active TB disease within the next two years if they do not receive treatment.
“This is why this year’s holding of PhilCAT’s annual convention held at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Pasig focuses on preventing TB infection and treating it,” he said