E-Paper
10% more TB detections this year
Till the end of June this year, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) detected 3,298 TB cases within city limits. Pimpri-Chinchwad reported 1,458 new cases of TB during the same time
Even as Covid-19 cases have reduced, there are 10% more Tuberculosis (TB) detections this year, according to health department officials. Till the end of June this year, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) detected 3,298 TB cases within city limits. Pimpri-Chinchwad reported 1,458 new cases of TB during the same time. The PMC reported a total 56 deaths due to TB till the end of June this year while the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) reported a total 39 deaths owing to TB during the same time. In June, the TB detection rate stood at 5.26% within PMC limits and 5.86% within PCMC limits. Whereas Pune rural reported a TB detection rate of 10.50% which is higher than the Maharashtra average of 6.05%, according to the district health department. In June, Pune district was leading in terms of TB case detection across Maharashtra. In 2021, 7,237 TB cases and 385 deaths were detected within Pune city limits. In 2020, 5,618 fresh TB cases were detected within Pune city limits.
Dr Prashant Bothe, Pune city TB control officer, said that ASHA workers are involved in detecting active TB patients. “Every ASHA worker visits homes to identify more cases. The introduction of six TruNat testing machines and two cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification tests (CBNAAT) has helped in the rapid diagnosis of TB. After detection of cases, we test the patients for multiple drug resistance and then start with the treatment,” said Dr Bothe.
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis commonly affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It spreads from person to person through the air, when people who are infected with TB cough, sneeze or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 9.9 million people were diagnosed with TB and 1.5 million people died due to TB globally in 2020, despite it being a disease that can be both prevented and cured.
