TB scare in Gauteng?
I am concerned that only about one in five MDR-TB patients in Gauteng are being treated - Bloom
Leratong Hospital has been identified as one of only 10 hospitals in Gauteng where multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) cases are being treated.
According to Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, this is concerning since the four patients being treated there is part of only 217 out of a 1000 cases.
The cure rate for MDR-TB is only 55 per cent, and 238 people have died of MDR-TB in the last three years, according to Bloom.
“This means that about 800 people with MDR-TB are spreading infection to others because they have not been diagnosed and placed on treatment in a hospital.
“There needs to be a higher priority in tracing people with this virulent form of TB as they are a danger to others and need to be treated if they are to have a chance of survival,” said Bloom.
Residents are advised to have themselves tested should they have a suspicion that they have contracted the disease even if they have been immunized as a child, local doctor Adéle van Zyl told the Record.
Symptoms of TB includes but are not limited to:
• Coughing that lasts three or more weeks
• Coughing up blood
• Chest pain, or pain with breathing or coughing
• Unintentional weight loss
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Night sweats
• Chills
• Loss of appetite
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