Wentworth clinic asks for help with TB patients
TB is spread in the air through acts like cough or sneezing if one is not on treatment.
Austerville primary healthcare clinic (PHC) encourages the Wentworth community to support them in the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
TB is spread in the air through acts like cough or sneezing if one is not on treatment.
It’s important that anyone with a history of prolonged cough, unintentional weight loss, night sweats and fever submit to a sputum test for the TB germ.
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Once a patient is on TB treatment, it is vital important that they take the treatment for the prescribed period, which is often six months for TB of the lungs. Once they have been on the treatment for two months, another sputum test will be done to check if the TB germ is responding to the treatment. The same test will be repeated at six months, to check if the TB germ has been eradicated.
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“The community and families need to support those on TB treatment. Make sure they visit the clinic for their appointments, that they take their treatment, do their sputum at two months and on completion of their treatment. The patient who interrupts and stops taking treatment is a danger to society as he stands the risk of developing resistant TB called MDR TB, which takes long to treat, requires hospitalisation and which puts others at risk of infection,” said Austerville PHC manager, Sr Grace Mufamadi.
Everyone who is HIV-positive has to be tested for TB and vice versa.
“The clinic is finding that patients are defaulting on their treatment and that is where families and the community need to be help us to locate these individuals so that they can continue their treatment. This applies to those on anti-retroviral treatment (ATRs) or any other chronic treatment,” she added.
“If you are collecting treatment and you get a job or your job is such that you cannot come to the clinic, communicate with the clinic instead of defaulting treatment as this puts the public at risk. For more information, consult the clinic. Be assured that the information about everyone treated remains confidential. As healthcare professionals we cannot divulge to anyone your reasons for visiting the facility.”
Call Sr Grace Mufamadi, Austerville PH clinic manager on 031-461-2496.
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