Tuberculosis situation 'under control'

TREATMENT IMPORTANT: Those with HIV and AIDS also contribute to the rising number of TB cases

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry attributes the increase in tuberculosis (TB) cases in the last three years to the influx of illegal migrant workers.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the department had taken steps to monitor illegal workers.

However, he said, the situation was not alarming and was under control.

TB cases had risen from 18,102 in 2009 to 19,337 last year. As of September this year, the figure stood at 14,791.

"The disease is still under control," he said, adding that TB was a communicable disease that could be brought under control.

TB is caused by various strains of mycobacteria. TB usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body.

Liow said the ministry had been working closely with TB associations to bring down the number of cases.

He said patients must undergo a six-month treatment to completely recover from the disease.

This, he said, was to ensure that TB patients did not infect others as the disease was transmitted via vapour and airborne particles.

He said patients were treated under the World Health Organisation's treatment for TB known as DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short) course.

"We do not have a drug-resistant problem here, so we are not worried about TB being untreatable.

"But we are worried about those who think they have already recovered and do not complete the six-month treatment."

Besides the influx of illegal migrant workers, another factor is the increase in the number of AIDS patients, because when the body's immune system is low, TB could creep in easily.

Malaysian Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis (MAPTB) president Datuk Seri Yeop Jr Yeop Adlan agreed that those with AIDS had contributed to the increase in TB cases.

He said foreign workers who were confirmed with TB should be treated or sent back to their countries of origin. Yeop said the most common TB symptom was continuous coughing for more than two weeks.

He said other symptoms were bloody phlegm, night sweats, fever for three weeks, poor appetite, weight loss and chest pain.

He added that it was important for a patient to undergo the DOTS course for at least six months until he was totally cured. He also said MAPTB regularly organised seminars on TB prevention at its 15 branches nationwide.

According to an officer with the Foreign Workers Medical Screening Expert or Fomema, employers whose foreign workers were diagnosed with TB were advised to send their workers back to their home countries as soon as possible.

Source: KASMIAH MUSTAPHA, SYED UMAR ARIFF, CARISMA KAPOOR AND PUNITHA KUMAR
news@nst.com.my