Some 163 TB patients treated in Northern Samar

By TERESITA B. CARDENAS (PIA Northern Samar)
February 17, 2007

CATARMAN, Northern Samar  –  Of the 696 patients examined during the third quarter of 2006, there were 163 who were found to be positive on sputum examination or Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) examination have been treated from the disease.  This was learned from TB coordinator Cesareth P. Hernandez of the Provincial Health Office.

This program is in line with the President Arroyo Administration to provide the citizenry with the basic services particularly efficient and fast access to medical services.

For the first quarter, out of 285 patients examined 72 were AFB smear positive and 71 were x-ray positive. A total of 143 patients have “enrolled” for treatment during the first quarter of 2006 while for the second quarter, of the 510 patients examined, 98 were found positive with AFB smear examination and 68 were x-ray positive.  A total of 166 patients enrolled in the TB program for the said quarter.  Patients enrolled in the TB treatment program are provided with free medicines from the government.

Tuberculosis according to Hernandez, is a chronic or acute infectious disease caused by Bacillus Mycobacterium, which may affect any tissue of the body but is usually found in the lungs.  The name “tuberculosis” is derived from the formation by the body of characteristic cellular structures called tubercles, in which the bacilli are trapped and walled off.

The disease is transmitted through sputum, mainly in airborne droplets, or by dust particles of dried sputum. They are rarely spread by excreta or food products. Unlike other infectious diseases, tuberculosis has no specific incubation period. A single attack does not confer lasting immunity; rather the bacilli may remain latent in the body for a long period, until a weakening of the body’s resistance affords them the opportunity to multiply and produce symptoms of the disease.

This disease remains a major public health problem in the Philippines. In 1996, TB ranked fifth in the 10 leading causes of death and fifth in the 10 leading causes of illness. Our country ranks second to Cambodia in terms of new smear positive. TB notification rate is 99.7 per 100,000 population, among the major countries in the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region in 1999.