Tuesday March 24th was World Tuberculosis Day 2020. I’m sure that is not common public knowledge as even I didn’t know that this day existed. With the whole world currently dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, many things are looked over, including other diseases. Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis and this disease attacks the lungs. Many people who are infected with the virus do not show symptoms, however, the disease is deadly. Symptoms include coughing, night sweats, fever, chills, weight loss, chest pain, and more. Transmission is human to human and comes through droplets that are released from coughs or sneezes. How dangerous is TB? Let’s discuss.
Tuberculosis is the world’s deadliest infectious disease. According to the World Health Organization, it was reported in 2018, 10 million people became infected with TB and over 1 million people died. They also predicted that in 2020, the disease will kill around four million people. Adults are the most at risk group for contracting the disease, but any age group is able to contract it. In an article published by Infection Control Today, the efforts that being made today to slow down the spread of this disease is discussed. The theme for World TB Day on the 24th was “It’s Time”. This theme addresses the fact that it is time for health officials to increase measures to prevent and treat the disease and also amp up the resources available in order to have more research on the disease. The World Health Organization said that TB was one of the most urgent infectious diseases that should be addressed this decade, and I couldn’t agree more.
As mentioned earlier, before this week, I had no idea that World TB Day was even a thing. TB is a scary disease and it accounted for a large number of deaths last year. It saddens me to know that the theme for this year’s TB Day was “It’s Time”. Health leaders had planned on putting their foot down and really detailing the work that needed to be done in order to attack the disease that is TB. However, because of the unfortunate and unforeseen turn of events this year, I feel as though the efforts towards tackling TB will be minimized. That is the scary thing with this pandemic. We keep talking about the rising numbers of Coronavirus cases and how healthcare systems are being overwhelmed, but people are forgetting about the fact that other diseases must be treated too. The beds in hospitals that people need for heart attacks, broken bones, strokes, and diseases such as TB are being taking up my Coronavirus patients. So I end this article by saying this. Do not forget about the other diseases, like Tuberculosis, during this time. Keep others in mind when deciding to leave your home during this time and listen to what the health officials and the government are telling people to do.
Diana's Micro World 