New cases and deaths from tuberculosis increase

Due to the impact of Covid, TB patients were not detected and treated, becoming a source of infection in the community, causing the rate of new cases and deaths to increase.

The information was announced by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Binh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Central Lung Hospital, Deputy Head of the Executive Board of the National Tuberculosis Control Program, at the Summary Program of the Project on Screening for Tuberculosis, Covid-19 and Some Common Respiratory Infections at the Grassroots Level in Vietnam , on August 3.

Specifically, the number of deaths from tuberculosis in our country was 8,400 in 2019, increasing to 12,000 in 2022. Also in 2022, the whole country detected 103,000 tuberculosis patients, an increase of nearly 31% compared to 2021 and 1.8% compared to 2020.

"Over the past 20 years, the rate of new cases and deaths due to tuberculosis in Vietnam has been on a downward trend. However, the Covid pandemic has reversed many years of tuberculosis prevention results in our country," said Mr. Hoa.

Accordingly, due to the impact of the epidemic, many TB patients were not detected and treated, becoming a source of infection in the community. In addition, the supply chain of equipment and materials was disrupted, causing disruptions in TB prevention work.

Tuberculosis patients being treated at the Central Lung Hospital. Photo: Le Nga — Tuberculosis patients being treated at the Central Lung Hospital. Photo: *Le Nga*

Tuberculosis is considered a "silent killer", often lasting silently and detected late. From the onset of the disease to the stage of death, the disease has spread to many other people. Therefore, early detection and proactive tracing not only save the patient's life but also quickly reduce the source of spread to the community and the epidemiology of tuberculosis. On the other hand, the disease can be completely cured when following the treatment regimen and time.

WHO still considers TB a serious global health problem, with an estimated 10.6 million cases and 1.6 million deaths in 2022. Vietnam still ranks 11th among 30 countries with a high burden of TB and multidrug-resistant TB.

Currently, TB prevention activities are gradually returning to normal. The proactive screening and detection campaign down to the commune level with 1.2 million participants in 2022 detected 19,000 cases, an increase of nearly 31% compared to 2021.

Cases with TB symptoms or in the high-risk group for TB infection have their sputum samples taken at the commune health station and sent to the district health center for TB testing using GeneXpert – a method capable of detecting TB and multidrug-resistant TB. Detected TB cases are treated at the district health center; patients with drug-resistant TB are transferred to the Lung Hospital.

Le Nga

Source link