Have you been coughing for longer than two weeks, having chest pains, feeling tired and weak, or experiencing night sweats even when it is cold? Have you lost your appetite and are losing weight? Are you coughing up flecks of blood? If your answer to these questions is yes you should visit a doctor or clinic as you may have Tuberculosis, or TB as it is better known.
TB is a relatively common disease and it is usually passed through the air from person-to-person via coughs, sneezes, talking and spittle. In most individuals the TB germ affects the lungs, but in some people it may affect other organs. When the disease becomes active it usually attacks and damages the soft tissue of the lungs, causing difficulties in breathing. It can be very dangerous to one's health, particularly if it is not treated. In the past it was known as ‘consumption' because of the way that those who were suffering from it tended to ‘waste away'.
As part of the Government Employees Medical Scheme's (GEMS) ongoing effort to educate our members and future members on a range of healthcare topics, we would like to provide you with some information on Tuberculosis and how to identify and treat it.
The good news is that while it was a merciless killer in the past, today TB can be treated with antibiotics. Treatment is free in South Africa and anyone who is displaying the symptoms above should be encouraged to have themselves and their families checked out for the illness.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, some two billion people, around a third of the world's population, are infected with the bacterium that causes TB. Fortunately not everyone who catches TB becomes actively infected and it is thought that only between five and ten percent of people will actually go on to develop the illness in its active form. Nevertheless, WHO estimates that TB is killing more than 1.7 million people around the world every year. And, if the active form of the disease is not treated, it kills no fewer than half of its victims.
There has been a worldwide resurgence in the disease over the last number of years partly as a result of the HIV/Aids pandemic and because drug resistant forms of the disease have developed.
HIV/Aids and TB co-infection is common in Southern Africa and TB is the leading cause of death among people with HIV/Aids. However, having TB does not mean that an individual has HIV/Aids and being HIV positive does not mean a person will develop TB.
Drug resistant forms of TB are more difficult to treat and require increasingly powerful drugs to destroy them. Drug resistant forms of the disease have developed largely as a result of people not taking their medicines as prescribed, the use of poor quality medicines and inadequate treatment regimes.
One of the problems with TB treatment is that it takes a long time - six months or more - to completely eradicate the bacteria from the human body (although a person stops being infectious two weeks after starting the treatment). Some people grow tired of the medicines and stop taking them before they should, or they start to feel better and think they can give them up. This is most unwise as the individual could develop a drug resistant strain that takes even longer and is much more difficult to treat.
The TB bacterium has a tough outer ‘shell' that can survive the human body's immune system. In turn the body's immune system usually keeps the bacteria in check, which is why many people do not ever develop an active form of the disease. Individuals usually only develop TB after their immune system is compromised by, for example, HIV/Aids.
According to the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department (www.kznhealth.gov), those most at risk include people who have:
World TB Day is held on 24 March every year and has become an increasingly important vehicle in South Africa for spreading awareness about this deadly disease, which requires early and appropriate treatment.
If you have any more questions regarding TB you can phone the GEMS call centre on 0860 00 4367 or send a SMS to 083 450 4367. GEMS will assist you in every way possible to ensure your family's health and well-being.
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