One of the most striking findings of South Africa’s first National Tuberculosis (TB) Prevalence Survey was that of 234 people found to have TB, around 58% had abnormal chest X-rays without experiencing any TB symptoms.
The survey findings also confirmed what many experts suspected – that tens of thousands of people with TB in South Africa are simply never diagnosed. Based on the survey it was estimated that 390,000 people fell ill with TB in the country in 2018 – of which around 154,000 never received a diagnosis.
Spotlight, one solution to this under-diagnosis problem is simply to test more people who are at high risk of falling ill with TB (for example people living with HIV or people who live in the same house as someone with TB rather than only testing those who report having TB symptoms. Such a “targeted universal testing” approach was found to improve TB detection by around 17% in one study. Testing in this context typically refers to testing sputum samples with Gen
SA piloting mobile X-rays to boost asymptomatic TB detection
msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
As we battle Covid-19, we shouldn t forget about TB
standardmedia.co.ke - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from standardmedia.co.ke Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dr Limakatso Lebina (bottom row) presenting to CROI 2021.
Screening everyone with HIV and others at high risk of tuberculosis for active TB increased diagnosis rates by 17% compared to testing people who had potential symptoms of TB such as cough and fever, Dr Limakatso Lebina of the University of Witwatersrand reported to the 2021 virtual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections this week.
TB is under-diagnosed in people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, where it remains the biggest killer of people with HIV. Around 150,000 cases of TB are missed each year in South Africa – almost half the entire burden – and these people die or transmit TB to others before their illness is detected.
Global Fund-Somalia Program – TB program Laboratory Consultant Laboratory Consultant
reliefweb.int - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reliefweb.int Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.