The number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases has come down marginally over the last five years but the disease continues to keep Health authorities on their toes.
The total numbers of new TB cases in 2017 were 2,126 against 2,170 cases in 2016. The number of cases over the last five years has shown a marginal decline.
Spread of disease
However, what worries the Health authorities is pulmonary TB, responsible for spreading the disease. It constitutes the major chunk of all TB cases.
According to District TB Officer Sharath B. Rao, with the population of the district at 33,49,103 and 8,80,481 households, 343 cases per 10 lakh is the frequency of the disease.
The new sputum positive cases or what is called pulmonary TB in 2017 were 1,481, as against 1,582 in 2016, and 1,797 in 2013. Given that one sputum positive case is capable of infecting at least 15 to 20 healthy person during a patient’s course of disease, there could be many unidentified cases. The district on an average registers about 1,150 cases every year.
Recovery
The outcomes of the treatment for sputum positive cases in the district showed good cure rates with 77% cured in 2016.
Of the total outcome, 6% had died and 7% had defaulted. Similarly, over the last five years TB had showed a good average cure rate of about 80%.
Both the General Hospital and the Government Medical College, Kalamassery, have advanced diagnostics called cartridge-based nucleic acid amplifying test that is available free of cost.
