While I have already talked about mucormycosis and the possibility of combination to two or more virus mutating and combining with covid, the idea of simultaneous infection never occurred to me, thus making a mental note of it there are many other ailments possible with this one possibility, the raising cases of tuberculosis (TB) are a big concern with corona and its recent track record with mucormycosis, its clear to us that with lower immunity and high sugar levels many other ailments can pose a serious problem. We are already battling with this issue currently, with a more than 10% mean mortality rate globally. It can be the next emerging problem.[1]
if the next ailment is TB, then India will be in some serious trouble, while most of the number of deaths occur because of TB are already higher in number, so much so that India had to declare an open war against TB by making a National TB Elimination Program, which was a part of nation strategic plan 2012-17, with an ambitious aim of “TB free India”, we have most effective tb eradication programme in place, which includes the DOTS program[2]. Tough India has managed to cure this ailment and has been effectively managing it for a long period. COVID might pose a problem, and there might be an outbreak of this infection shortly. But here is a small catch and some good news for all of us, despite being highly lethal, this disease is not caused by a virus, like COVID-19 this is also an airborne disease, but since we have been following the SOPs given by govt and Who the chances of this infection are relatively less.
Is it a matter of concern?
That’s a little complex to answer, as the answer may be ambiguous. Just like mucormycosis, TB is also an opportunistic bacterium ready to invade and affect our lungs, just like COVID-19. And just like covid it is also an airborne disease, unlike covid the mortality rate is a bit higher and according to an estimate the death rate might be 3 times for patient suffering from both covid and TB [3], while there are various portals which have took it as a serious matter of concern like Stop TB partnership[4] which has already good amount of data on the subject.
If by some way this disease gets an outbreak, then Indian doctors will have to fight a war on 3 fronts, ie, COVID, black fungus, and TB, though we are already fighting this, but it's on a very subtle level. The cases are being monitored closely as there is no outbreak as of now, and the chances of happening are also grim, but never zero.
Currently, all the data regarding the fight between TB and COVID is being openly displayed on the website of TBfacts.org, and it's important that we are aware of this disease too. The chances are less but never zero, even in this case, the higher risk group is COVID-19 positive patients, people with comorbidities, and people who have a weak immune system.
Symptoms and prevention
 |
| Image credit: vectorstock.com |
Let us hope to survive through this too…..
[1] Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, or talks. (Wikipedia)
[2] There is a proven, cost-effective TB treatment strategy known as DOTS. A combination of technical and managerial components, DOTS quickly makes the infectious cases non-infectious and breaks the cycle of transmission. Using DOTS also prevents the development of drug-resistant strains of TB that are often fatal and almost 100 times more expensive to cure. (WHO)
[3] By April 2021, data emerging from India and South Africa showed that people co-infected with TB and COVID-19 have 3 times higher mortality than people infected with TB alone (https://tbfacts.org/covid-tb/)
[4] http://www.stoptb.org/covid19.asp
Comments
Post a Comment