- Tuberculosis mostly affects adults in their most productive years.
- However, all age groups are at risk.
Image: OZONE
The Ministry of Health this week announced that at least 400,000 Kenyans living with HIV have been enrolled on a treatment programme to prevent tuberculosis.
This is because people living with HIV are up to 21 times more likely to develop TB disease than someone without the virus because of their weakened immune system.
TB is an infectious disease that most often affects the lungs and is caused by a type of bacteria and can be fatal if not treated properly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) however notes that the bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine and brain.
Tuberculosis mostly affects adults in their most productive years.
However, all age groups are at risk.
The disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit.
Since not everyone infected with TB bacteria becomes sick, two TB-related conditions exist; latent TB infection (LTBI) and TB disease.
Latent infection occurs when the TB bacteria live in the body without making you sick.
People with latent TB infection do not have symptoms and they can’t spread TB bacteria to others but may develop TB disease if they do not receive treatment for latent TB infection.
"Many people who have latent TB infection never develop TB disease. In these people, the TB bacteria remain inactive for a lifetime without causing disease," CDC explains.
On the other hand, TB disease is when the body's immune system can’t stop the bacteria from growing.
"People with TB disease are sick. They may also be able to spread the bacteria to people they spend time with every day," it says.
The World Health Organisation lists prolonged cough (sometimes with blood) chest pain, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, fever and night sweats as some of the common symptoms of TB disease.
WHO recommends the use of rapid molecular diagnostic tests as the initial diagnostic test in all persons with signs and symptoms of TB.
Rapid diagnostic tests recommended by WHO include the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra and Truenat assays.
These tests have high diagnostic accuracy and will lead to major improvements in the early detection of TB and drug-resistant TB.
"Tuberculosis disease is treated with antibiotics. Treatment is recommended for both TB infection and disease," WHO says.
To be effective, the medications should be taken daily for four to six months.
The global health agency warns that stopping the medications early or without medical advice is dangerous as it can allow TB that is still alive to become resistant to the drugs.
Drug resistance emerges when TB medicines are used inappropriately, through incorrect prescription by health care providers, poor quality drugs, or patients stopping treatment prematurely.
"TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to the most effective second-line TB drugs can leave patients with very limited treatment options," WHO warns.
The WHO further warns that people living with HIV are 16 times more likely to fall ill with TB disease than people without HIV.
TB is the leading cause of death among people with HIV, it says.
Online medical site Mayo Clinic warns that TB spreads easily where people gather in crowds or where people live in crowded conditions.
It says that symptoms of active TB disease in children vary noting that symptoms among teenagers are similar to those experienced in adults.
Younger children may have a fever that won't go away and weight loss while infants will not grow or gain weight as expected.
Also, a baby may have symptoms from swelling in the fluid around the brain or spinal cord.
They may have poor feeding, experience vomiting, bulging soft spots on the head or being sluggish or inactive.