Bhubaneswar, April 1: More than 40 per cent of the population in India carry the tuberculosis bacteria though their microbiological test report is found to be negative, an eminent expert on the disease said.
Though they carry the bacteria, the disease does not get manifested in them and around 10 per cent of them develop the disease subsequently. However, these asymptomatic TB cases keep spreading the disease, Prof. (Dr.) Sudarsan Pothal, Professor at the Sri Jagannath Medical College Hospital at Puri, said.
“The need is to screen all patients coming to a doctor or hospital for treatment of any disease to detect latent tuberculosis in them. This can be done by using portable X-ray machines,” he said while speaking at a program organised to observe the World TB Week at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here on Saturday.
This is necessary as the silent carriers will continue to grow and spread tuberculosis unless transmission is stopped through screening, Prof. (Dr.) Pothal said.
Prof. (Dr.) Pothal said the new BPaLM regimen of treatment to fight tuberculosis has proved to be safe and effective while providing a quicker treatment option compared to other modes of treatment practised till now. The new regimen was a combination of four drugs--- Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid and Moxifloxacin—which has a better safety profile and 94 per cent success rate, he said.
The treatment is also for a much shorter duration of 26 to 38 weeks, he said.
The program was also addressed by Dr. Mohan Venkatesh Pulle, Consultant Thoracic Surgeon at the Institute of Chest Surgery, Chest Onco-surgery and Lung Transplantation at Medanta-The Medicity, Gurugram, Prof. (Dr.) Pusparaj Samantasinghar, Medical Superintendent of IMS and SUM Hospital and Prof. (Dr.) Banani Jena, Head of Department of Respiratory Medicine in the hospital and President of Odisha Chest Society.
Dr. Pulle said before 1940 tuberculosis was being treated only by surgeons as surgery was the treatment of choice. The development of thoracic surgery was completely based on treatment of tuberculosis over a period of 100 years, he said.
Prof. (Dr.) Jena spoke about the vision to make India tuberculosis free and the steps being taken to achieve this goal.
Prof. (Dr.) Rakhi Ludam and Prof. (Dr.) Priyadarshini Behera, professors in the department of Respiratory Medicine were also present.
