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| Kashmir contracts TB at an alarming rate | | 30,358 patients found in last 7 years | | Early Times Report
srinagar, Aug 16: Over 30,000 people infected with Tuberculosis (TB) have been detected in Kashmir, in last seven years, official sources said.
Last year alone, 871 new cases of TB were found in Kashmir division including Leh and Kargil. "Out of 283184 free of cost sputum examinations conducted since2004 till December 2011 in Kashmir Division including Ladakh at Government Designated Microscopic Centres (DMCs), 30358 TB patients have been detected in Kashmir Division," well placed official sources revealed.
Out of these 30358 TB patients,21443 have completed the treatment with the help of Directly Observable Treatment Short Course (DOTS), sources added. Primarily affecting lungs, Tuberculosis (TB) caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, can also affect organs in the central nervous system, lymphatic system, and circulatory system.
When a person becomes infected with tuberculosis, the bacteria in the lungs multiply and cause pneumonia alongwith chest pain, coughing up blood, and a prolonged cough, a senior doctor associated with TB control said.
In addition, lymph nodes near the heart and lungs become enlarged, the doctor informed adding that TB tries to spread to other parts of the body. "If the body's immune system is unable to fight TB or if the bacterium breaks through the scar tissue, the disease returns to an active state with pneumonia and damage to kidneys, bones, and the meninges that line the spinal cord and brain," the doctor pleading anonymity said.
Caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis spread from person to person through airborne particles, doctors inform that most people who become infected with the bacteria actually do not present symptoms of the disease.
"However, when symptoms are present, they include unexplained weight loss, tiredness, fatigue, shortness of breath, fever, night sweats, chills, and a loss of appetite. Symptoms specific to the lungs include coughing that lasts for 3 or more weeks, coughing up blood, chest pain, and pain with breathing or coughing."
How is tuberculosis diagnosed? The doctors say that TB diagnosis usually occurs after a combination of skin, sputum, blood, and imaging tests.
Dr Saleem-u-Rehman, Director Health Services Kashmir believes that State Health Department is working very hard on every component of the stop TB strategy devised by department trying its best to mobilize resources and gain better policy support.
"Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) is yielding good results in Kashmir division. Among other activities like uninterrupted supply of medicine to registered TB patient at a nearest Government healthcare facility, to ensure high quality of sputum examinations conducted free of cost the Government has established 92 laboratories in hospitals called as Designated Microscopic Centres (DMC'S). The people with cough for two or more weeks undergo such sputum tests," Dr Rehman added. |
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