BMC starts survey to identify TB patients

Health workers are visiting slums in each ward to identify those with TB, and will also trace those who have come in contact with confirmed cases.

The civic body has initiated a door-to-door survey to identify suspected tuberculosis (TB) patients across all civic wards in the city.

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“The health workers are visiting slums in each ward to identify cases of TB. The sputum examination is conducted for suspected cases and as per the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), he is put on a TB regimen immediately,” said Dr Mini Khetarpal, Mumbai TB Officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Apart from detecting new TB cases, the health workers will also trace people who have come in contact with TB patients. “In contact-tracing, we conduct a rapid survey of about 50 households in proximity to a confirmed TB patient. In the survey, we rule out TB for children upto five years in contact with a TB patient,” said Dr Shantaram Kawde, district TB officer, D ward that has identified 33 suspected TB patients in the past five days.

In March, the civic body had classified Byculla, Parel, Dadar, Malad, Andheri, Kurla, Govandi, Chembur, Ghatkopar and Kanjurmarg as high-risk category areas for TB. “We have extended the survey from the ten high-risk wards to the remaining 14 wards this month,” added Khetarpal.

The civic body had rolled out a TB control programme in February after Hinduja Hospital reported cases of extremely drug resistant TB.