In a first, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be starting compulsory screening of family members of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients from today, January 1, 2022, a report from the Indian Express stated.
According to the report, this could help in reducing the TB burden by half in the city.
In Mumbai, over two-third of TB patients have a pulmonary infection. The BMC had, earlier started a pilot project where around 500 samples of family members of 125 pulmonary TB patients were collected to detect LTBI. However, now the surveillance is mandatory for all the pulmonology TB patients' kin across 24 wards in Mumbai.
Mumbai’s TB officer Dr Pranita Tipre told Indian Express that the close contacts of the TB patient will be screened for the sensitivity of 4S complex — current cough, fever, weight loss and night sweats. Moreover, an X-ray, and blood test (Interferon-Gamma Release Assays, called IGRA) that gauges an individual’s immune reactivity to TB bacteria will be done.
Prior to this, TB preventive therapy was limited to children under five years who were exposed to any active TB patient and people living with HIV.
Earlier, the health department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) had conducted a fresh survey to detect patients with communicable diseases like tuberculosis (TB) across the twin-city.
Municipal commissioner Dilip Dhole had appealed to the citizens to cooperate with the medical teams in conducting the survey which is aimed at an intensified and targeted survey to detect and diagnose patients of the diseases at an early stage and provide them proper treatment.
The detection of fresh tuberculosis patients had witnessed a significant drop during the lockdown period which was imposed to contain the spread of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, thus necessitating the urgent need of intensified and targeted surveys to detect and diagnose patients of communicable diseases and swift treatment.
The union health ministry aims to make the country TB free by the year 2025.
