Thousands in Banten suffer from tuberculosis

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 04/24/2009 6:52 PM

As many as 3,739 people in Banten province are registered as patients suffering from tuberculosis, a local health official says.

Oom Romlah, an official at the Serang District Health Service, said Friday that the alarming spread of tuberculosis in the province was a consequence of low public awareness about hygiene and poverty-induced malnutrition.

"Most TB cases in the province were linked to poverty, unhealthy environments, and low awareness of hygiene and healthy life styles," Oom said as quoted by Antara state news agency.

In 2008, there were 3,383 known TB cases in Banten province of which 21 had ended in the sufferers' death. In the January-March peiod of 2009, 346 new cases were reported.

If left untreated, one TB sufferer could pass on the disease to 10 other people in a relatively short time, Romlah said.

Education of sufferers was necessary, she said, because they could be cured only if they took the prescribed medicines (provided free of charge) for a period of six consecutive months without interruption.

To ensure the patient's consistency in taking the medicines, members of his or her family and community health workers needed to be involved to act as supervisors, she said.

TB prevention efforts included informing the public about the early symptoms of the disease, namely continuous coughing for more than three weeks, pains and a sense of congestion in the chest, fever spells for more than a month, and loss of appetite for food.