Making a statement about latent tuberculosis (TB), Member of the Coronavirus Scientific Committee and Chest Diseases Specialist Prof. Dr. Tevfik Özlü stated that 2 billion people in the world carry the bacteria of this disease. Stating that tuberculosis is an airborne disease like Kovid, Prof. Dr. Concise, “What we call hidden tuberculosis is not actually a disease. These are healthy people. In other words, they are among the people who got the tuberculosis microbe in time, the bacillus (bacteria) that caused tuberculosis settled in the body, which can survive in certain foci but do not cause disease, do not cause any symptoms, and therefore cannot be treated because they are not sick. we’re talking about.” he said. Stating that 10 to 30 percent of the population in Turkey has latent tuberculosis, Prof. Dr. Özlü stated that risk groups should be screened for occult tuberculosis and that the society is also protected when preventive treatment is given to them.
“MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT AWARE”
Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine Department of Chest Diseases Faculty Member and Ministry of Health Coronavirus Scientific Committee Member Prof. Dr. Tevfik Özlü drew attention to hidden tuberculosis cases due to the 24 March World Tuberculosis Day. Answering the questions at the National Lung Health Congress held by the Lung Health and Intensive Care Association (ASYOD) between 16-19 March in Antalya, Prof. Dr. Özlü said that when tuberculosis is mentioned, it is a disease that everyone knows, but when it comes to latent tuberculosis, most people are not aware of it. Özlü said, “What we call hidden tuberculosis is not actually a disease. These are healthy people. In other words, the bacteria that cause tuberculosis have taken over in time, the bacillus (bacterium) that causes tuberculosis has settled in the body, can survive in certain foci, but does not cause disease, does not cause any symptoms, and therefore, treatment is not necessary. We are talking about people who are not infected. While these people are carriers, they do not have a chance to transmit the disease. 95-97 percent of carriers go through this process without ever getting sick. However, some of them become active tuberculosis patients during the course of the infection. They mostly have conditions that suppress the body’s immune system. This group is important to us.” said.
“THE MAIN THING HERE IS TO TREAT RISK GROUPS”
prof. Dr. Özlü said, “These are skin tests or some blood tests. When we do this, we understand that that person has encountered TB microbe before and has gone through the infection process. Not every patient with a diagnosis of latent tuberculosis needs treatment. “It is important that he receives the treatment we say. About 2 billion people in the world are thought to have hidden tuberculosis cases. In Turkey, 10 to 30 percent of the population has this microbe. The main thing here is to treat risk groups. In this way, both those people “We protect it, and if those people get sick, we prevent them from infecting the society,” he said.
“TURKEY IS BETWEEN THESE COUNTRIES”
Stating that they call latent tuberculosis cases with a high risk of getting sick as an infection pool, Prof. Dr. Özlü continued his words as follows:
“Patients come out of this pool. If we can reduce this pool or completely eliminate it with preventive treatments, we will have the chance to completely eradicate tuberculosis from the face of the earth. This of course is not an easy process. The World Health Organization (WHO), ‘Termination of Tuberculosis Project’ It recommends this practice, that is, the preventive treatment of latent TB, especially for countries where active TB is not seen or very rare. Turkey is among these countries.”
“HIGHER RISK OF TURNING INTO ACTIVE DISEASE IN CHILDREN”
Expressing that it is not possible for everyone to screen for TB and most of them can survive without getting sick, Prof. Dr. Özlü summarized the process to be followed by saying that the main target group should be people at risk:
“It is necessary to screen people in the risk group who may get sick. These are people who have an immunosuppressive disease or need to receive long-term immunosuppressive treatment or who are in contact with a new infectious pulmonary tuberculosis patient and are thought to be at risk of transmission. Also, children are very important. We in children If we find this test positive, we treat immediately, especially under the age of 15. Because the risk of developing active disease is higher in children. In this sense, if there is a patient who needs to take an immunosuppressive treatment, biologic drugs, which we call anti TNF, or who need to use high-dose cortisone for a long time. These tests should be done in advance in patients. If it is understood that the person has latent tuberculosis, preventive treatment is started and then other treatments are started. Or if a disease that suppresses immunity occurs while they are healthy, for example, if they become HIV positive, the same process is in question. Going abroad for or any There are people who have to take this test to be able to work in r jobs. When we detect positivity in them, we immediately start preventive treatments if they are in the risk group.”
“IT IS TRANSMITTED BY AIR LIKE CORONAVIRUS”
Stating that tuberculosis is an airborne disease like Kovid, similar methods should be applied to prevent it. Dr. Pointing out that tuberculosis is not as common as Kovid, Özlü concluded his words as follows:
“In Turkey, 13 people are detected as new cases per 100 thousand. Therefore, it is not as common as Kovid in this respect, but in this respect it is different from it. But we should never forget that prevention is always easier, cheaper and more humane than treatment. Therefore, in terms of latent tuberculosis. It is a more humane, cheaper and more accurate method for people who are known to be in the risk group, to provide these preventive treatments, both for that person and the society.
Source: DHA