What you need to know about tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s leading infectious disease killer, surpassing COVID-19 in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is also known as the leading killer of people with HIV and a major cause of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance.

Based on the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2024, TB caused over 100 deaths for Filipinos daily. Globally, a total of 8.2 million people were reported as newly diagnosed with TB in 2023.

With the increase in the number of cases, health experts are aiming to improve the information dissemination to know the facts and stigma behind TB.

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TB “is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to person through the air. It usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine.”

“Not everyone infected with TB germs becomes sick,” CDC noted, highlighting the two TB-related conditions: latent TB infection (or inactive TB) and TB disease. However, if not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal.

So what is the difference between inactive and active RTB disease?

A person with inactive TB may relate to the following conditions:

• has a small amount of TB germs in their body that are alive but inactive.
• has no symptoms and does not feel sick.
• cannot spread TB germs to others.
• usually has a positive TB blood test or TB skin test indicating TB infection.
• has a normal chest x-ray and a negative sputum smear.
• needs treatment for inactive TB to prevent active TB disease.

Meanwhile, a person with active TB disease may relate to the following conditions:

• has a large amount of active TB germs in their body.
• has symptoms and feels sick.
• may spread TB germs to others.
• usually has a positive TB blood test or TB skin test indicating TB infection.
• may have an abnormal chest X-ray, or positive sputum smear or culture.
• needs treatment for active TB disease.

The CDC said if your body cannot stop TB germs from growing, you develop active TB disease. Symptoms of active TB disease include the following:

• a cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer
• coughing up blood or sputum
• weakness or fatigue
• chest pain
• fever
• chills
• night sweats
• loss of appetite
• weight loss

There are also two types of tests for TB infection: the TB blood test and the TB skin test.

Having a positive test for TB infection means have TB germs in your body and doctor/s will do other tests to determine if you have inactive TB or active TB disease. These tests may include a chest x-ray, and a test of the sputum you cough up.

For those with a negative test for TB infection means the patient likely do not have inactive TB or active TB disease but the doctor may do more tests if:

• the patient have symptoms of active TB disease, like coughing, chest pain, fever, weight loss, or tiredness.
• the patient have HIV infection.
• the patient exposure to TB germs was recent.

For those who are diagnosed with active TB disease, the CDC said they can be treated with medicine. One must take and finish all of your TB medicine as directed by your doctor or nurse to help you feel better and prevent other people from getting sick.

As we cannot cure TB without curing TB stigma, the Department of Health (DOH) and health experts gathered in Manila on Friday to address the issues and plans to prevent the further spread of the disease.

The DOH noted that TB is not hereditary. It cannot be obtained from fatigue, lack of sleep, mosquito bite and it is not transmitted by the using the cutlery, glasses, clothes, or blanket of a person with TB.

With these challenges, the DOH said it is continuously working on the developments on the early screening, treatment, prevention, health system support as well as information dissemination.

Last year, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said he is eyeing to have the Philippines removed from the top 10 list of countries with the highest number of tuberculosis cases by the end of his term.

Tuberculosis is one of the priority health outcomes of the Health Department— aiming to have a zero TB case mortality rate from 34 per 100,000 population and HIV. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News