TB cases on the rise again

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Tuberculosis (TB), at one time considered controlled, is spreading again in Malaysia because private doctors have failed to realise the disease has re-emerged.
Respiratory Medical Institute director Datin Dr Aziah Ahmad Mahayiddin said a standard practice required doctors to send patients suffering from acute cough for two weeks for tests.
“However, this is often not fully adhered to as most private clinics do not have a laboratory,’’ she said, adding that TB was contagious and needed to be treated without delay.
Dr Aziah said that in the 90s, TB had been controlled and had dropped to a minimum, and some private practitioners had forgotten about it.
“Some doctors are not aware that it is re-emerging in the country.’’
TB is a highly infectious, often deadly, disease that mostly attacks the lungs and whose classic symptoms include chronic cough, blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats and weight loss.
Statistics showed that reported TB cases in Malaysia had risen from 61.2 cases per 100,000 people in 2005 to 63.1 last year.
It was vital to raise awareness among not only those in the medical field but the public at large, she told reporters at the World Tuberculosis Day celebrations, themed “I Am Stopping TB”, at the institute here yesterday.
She also said that 17,506 new cases and 1,523 deaths were reported last year.
Federal Territory Health Department deputy director Dr Salehuddin Abu Bakar said the department had kept doctors abreast of such contagious diseases as dengue and TB.
Persons with a weak immune system faced a higher risk of infection, he added.
Malaysian Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis president Datuk Seri Yeop Jr Yeop Adlan said TB patients from rural areas could apply for a monthly allowance from it while receiving treatment.
He said successful candidates would be give a maximum allowance of RM400 for up to six months – the standard period for treatment. Visit www.maptb.org.my for details.
The institute, located in Jalan Pahang, provides free treatment for TB patients.
They, however, need to pay a RM5 registration fee.