Thursday, August 25, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Tuberculosis in Nigeria... all hands should be on deck
Since the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Robert Koch in 1884 as the causative agent of Tuberculosis disease, efforts have been made by various stakeholders in health to combat the spread of the disease. However, the advent of HIV in the early period of 1980 has led to a major step back in the fight against Tuberculosis. Today, the prevalence of Tuberculosis in the world has brought the disease to international recognition and therefore, Tuberculosis along with HIV and Malaria, was declared a disease of global emergency.
Efforts had been made globally, nationally and local mitigate the effects of the disease in the community. However, more efforts need to be inputted to achieve the global target of eradicating Tuberculosis as a public health issue.
The development of Directly Observed Treatment Short course in the treatment of TB marks a milestone success in managing TB cases. This treatment option has been seen to be very effective if adherence is ensured. However, due to care-free attitude of patients to the importance of adherence to drugs, there had been an increase in the cases of multidrug resistance strain in recent times.
World Health Organisation statistics shows that about 8.8 million people develop active Tuberculosis disease annually and this statistics further stated that of this population 95% of them are in the developing countries. Also, of the 2 million annual deaths recorded due to TB 98% is from the developing world. The classification of countries, with respect to TB, by WHO showed that Nigeria ranked 4th among the high burden countries, this shows the endemic nature of the disease in the country.
The burden of TB in Nigeria has continued to be a threat to the survival of man. One reason for this is the proliferation of the Multidrug resistance Tuberculosis bacteria strain. In addition, the only facility providing care for MDR patient had been over burdened, limiting the chances of survival of affected patients and increasing the infectivity of the bacteria strain. Therefore, there is an urgent need for all hands to be on deck to reduce the burden of this life threatening disease in the society. Such efforts should not only be limited to the referral of all identified TB suspects but also extended to ensuring adherence of clients to treatment and ultimately achieving higher treatment success.
The introduction of Community Tuberculosis Care (CTBC) approach by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Program (NTBLCP) has increased community participation in the control of the epidemic. This approach has increased the number of TB case detected within the community. Nevertheless, there is a need to ensure wider coverage of the program in the various communities.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
10 Facts on Malaria
Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran 1. Alphonse Laveran, a French army surgeon stationed in Algeria, was the first to notice parasites in the blood of a patient suffering from malaria. This occurred on the 6th of November 1880.
2. Malaria is a disease caused by little germs in the body called “Plasmodium”
3. This germs are too small to be seen by the naked eye and they are transmitted by infected female mosquito bites
4. Over 400 million people, or 40% of the world’s population, currently live in regions where there is malaria risk
5. Ten new cases of malaria occurs every seconds and 6 out of 10 hospital visit is due to malaria
6. Each year, there are estimated 300-500 million clinical cases of malaria and an estimated 1.5- 2.7 million deaths
7. Studies in Africa indicate that as much as 30% of infant and childhood mortality may be attributed to malaria
8. Malaria is preventable, treatable and curable
9. Malaria is not caused by;
a. Working in the sun
b. Excessive work
c. Witchcraft
d. Eating too much oil
e. Bad water and bad air
f. Sleeping in the afternoon
10. Malaria can lead to death or disability if not well managed
10 Facts about Tuberculosis
Dr. Robert Koch (1843 – 1910)
1. 24th of March 1882 Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of Tuberculosis, was discovered
2. Someone in the world is newly infected with TB bacilli every second and someone dies of TB every 20 seconds.
3. Overall, one-third of the world's population is currently infected with the TB bacillus.
4. More than 2 billion people, equal to one third of the world’s total population, are infected with TB bacilli
5. Nigeria has the world’s fourth largest Tuberculosis burden.
6. One in every 10 of those people will become sick with active TB in his or her lifetime.
7. Left untreated, each person with active TB disease will infect on average between 10-15 people every year.
8. People living with HIV are at a much greater risk to get TB.
9. TB is a leading killer among people living with HIV
10. —A single cough may produce up to 3000 droplets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
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