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TB hasn't gone away - it's a silent killer

The disease affects 9 million people around the world every year.

http://youtu.be/SX5zhJ1i2p0

(USaidVideo/YouTube

IT MIGHT BE a disease that many of us in the developed world don’t give much of a thought to, but tuberculosis affects millions of people around the globe.

Today is World TB Day, when people are encouraged to donate to organisations helping those who are ill with the disease, and those fighting for a cure.

According to the Stop TB Partnership, every year nine million people get sick with TB – but three million don’t get the care they need.

Fighting TB

The organisation says that many of these three million people “live in the world’s poorest, most vulnerable communities and include groups such as migrants, miners, drug users and sex workers”.

We believe that no one should be left behind in the fight against TB. This World TB Day, we call for a global effort to find, treat and cure the three million and accelerate progress towards zero TB deaths, infections, suffering and stigma.

Medecin Sans Frontiéres said that data its teams have gathered suggests that the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is greater than previously estimated.

With TB passed through coughs or sneezes, it’s obvious why developments in new treatments need to be made.

But according to Dr Jennifer Hughes, developments have “ground to a halt” in recent years, despite the fact that TB kills 1.5 million people very year and is the second-largest infectious killer worldwide.

The disease has all but disappeared in the world’s richer and more developed countries, but in countries such as South Africa, thousands of people are unknowingly being infected.

Said Hughes:

We need a brand new treatment regimen against TB. Treatment that actually works. Treatment that hasn’t been dredged up from the Dark Ages of modern medicine and re-used because, well, it’s better than nothing

To mark the day, the Lancet medical journal has taken a look at the latest news in the fight against TB. It says that there is a range of novel anti-tuberculosis drugs in preclinical development.

It also notes that there has also been progress in the development of anti-TB drugs that are active against dormant or persistent populations of mycobacterium TB.

To find out more about World TB Day, visit the Stop TB Partnership website.

Column: I can’t bear to look into someone’s eyes and tell them they will probably die>

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23 Comments
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    Mute Vince O'Shea
    Favourite Vince O'Shea
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    Mar 24th 2014, 10:55 AM

    so who is bringing TB to Ireland? Are there any med examinations set up like say in Australia? No? Yes? No?

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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:12 AM

    T.B. has being in Ireland a long time a lot of people died in Ireland in the early half of the 20th century thank god for medical improvements or if your not religious thank the doctors.

    37
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    Mute Rkmr
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    Mar 24th 2014, 12:21 PM

    Screening should definitely be put in place for travellers from high risk countries. It has been shown that screening and monitoring of tb is more effective than vaccination. Excellent article here http://mobile.medicalindependent.ie/page.aspx?contentid=3408

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    Mute Dwayne Jordan
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:11 AM

    TB is on the rise in Ireland because of the increase in immigration.

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    Mute Jeremy Usbourne
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:58 AM

    Or people should stop sleeping with badgers.

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    Mute Vince O'Shea
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    Mar 24th 2014, 3:58 PM

    Add Aids to that list and stop sleeping with monkeys.

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    Mute Jenny Hughes
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    Mar 24th 2014, 12:15 PM

    First off the name similarity is a pure coincidence.
    I was unfortunate enough to get TB at the age of 16 in 2006. The even more unfortunate fact was that I was unlucky enough to get it in my eyes which caused a condition called uveitis. I’m still undergoing treatment for my eyes 8 years later.
    The fact is that the strains of TB in our country today are harsher and more aggressive than ever before and it’s only getting worse.
    Young people used to ask me “what the hell is TB?” Older people used to say “there’s no way you have that, sure that’s gone years”.

    29
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    Mute Susan Johnston
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    Mar 24th 2014, 2:58 PM

    Jenni Hughes – I have TB in my left eye also, I’m on my 5th month of treatment & unsure if the uveitis will ever leave or will I be left with permanent scarring! It’s good to know that there’s someone else out there with TB in their eye!

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    Mute Jenny Hughes
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    Mar 24th 2014, 7:16 PM

    No way! I literally thought I was the only one?!
    I finished TB treatment years ago. Had to go through it twice though because I was a stupid 16 year old and stopped taking the medication before the 9 months. So stick with it!
    The uveitis unfortunately is a different story. Apparently it can go on for years :(
    Best of luck with your treatment!

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    Mute John O Gorman
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    Mar 25th 2014, 2:14 AM

    What is tb how do u get it?symptoms?

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    Mute Lily
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    Mar 24th 2014, 10:48 AM

    Do they still not give the bcg in cork?

    I only got mine when I moved from cork at 14. Lucky I did my boss who was also from Cork got TB, he had it for well over a year before he was diagnosed.

    Im sure there were outbreaks in cork there in the last year or so at crèches.

    I think another few countries don’t vaccinate either.

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    Mute Gizmo mac
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    Mar 24th 2014, 10:51 AM

    Huh??

    6
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    Mute Lily
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    Mar 24th 2014, 10:59 AM

    Tb is here in Ireland, some counties vaccinate others don’t. In recent years there have been a number of outbreaks at schools and crèches in Galway and Cork…

    For a country like ireland the bcg should be offered to all babies born, not just ones in certain counties.

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    Mute Gizmo mac
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:01 AM

    Oh sorry you said countries obviously a typo, sound lily

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    Mute Ariana
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:06 AM

    It’s not all off Cork, we all got vaccinated in my part of West Cork

    I don’t get excluding certain parts of the country, in order to really be effective, the whole country should be vaccinated.

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    Mute Lily
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:07 AM

    Ah yes I spot it now.. It was a typo… :)

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    Mute una barrett
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    Mar 24th 2014, 6:35 PM

    Was visiting someone in hospital Saturday and man in the ward died.He was only in his 40s he was from Somalia and had pneumonia,TB and aids,that’s what they were saying in the ward.He spat up buckets of flem.I felt for all the other patients as they were very sick and vulnerable to infection.There should be a screening process in this country.

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Mar 24th 2014, 3:54 PM

    My mother died of TB at the age of 32, in 1961, leaving behind two small children. The disease (a disease of poverty) was widespread in Ireland and the U.K. I am alarmed and appalled to see the re-emergence of this filthy killer, which is becoming endemic amongst, guess who, the poor. I would advocate a similar approach as was adopted by the magnificent heroes who put an end to small pox – i.e., vaccinations of everybody, everywhere – no matter how difficult it may seem. It is easier and cheaper to do it now than it was in the days when the medics made their concerted attack on small pox. I know there are difficulties, e.g. the wilful exploitation of polio by Islamic Fundamentalists, but these are matters which can be overcome if the will is there to do it.

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    Mute Liz Potts
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    Mar 24th 2014, 1:57 PM

    Screening people coming into the country isn’t going to turn us into a tb free country… Many people who were children in the 1950s would have been exposed to tb early in life and they can come out of latency as they get older and their immune system starts to act up as part of the aging process

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    Mute Rkmr
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    Mar 24th 2014, 2:44 PM

    I posted an article above about tb and screening, basically saying we should be doing what other developed countries like Canada, uk, USA, France etc. They have stopped mass vaccination because the bcg is not very effective, they vaccinate people who are very high risk, they use money saved from mass vaccination to put in place excellent screening and tracking methods for tb. This includes screening older people for latent tb. I think Ireland just wants to take the easy option and vaccinate everyone unfortunately this is extremely ineffective.

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    Mute Carina Clarke
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:15 PM

    Lol you think the UK is pumping the money saved in screening high risk. They stopped vaccination to save money. Then there were massive outbreaks and they started vaccinating again.

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    Mute Rkmr
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    Mar 25th 2014, 7:52 AM

    Can you post some evidence to back up this statement?
    Also the UK do not vaccinate everyone against tb, they selectively vaccinate high risk people.
    The bcg has been shown to be very ineffective and this is why so many counties have stopped mass vaccination with it

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    Mute Magno Thompson
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    Mar 24th 2014, 11:38 AM

    Thanks filks

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