March 17, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: Many Malaysians are not aware that tuberculosis (TB) is still a danger and this has resulted in them seeking treatment late.
Institute of Respiratory Medicine director Datuk Dr Abdul Razak Muttalif said TB sufferers who did not seek early treatment were also contributing to more infections.
Last year, over 18,000 new TB cases were detected, showing a 12.5% increase from 16,000 in 2008, he said.
“When they come in late for treatment, they would have spread it to 10 or 20 other people,” he said.
Dr Abdul Razak said TB was not under control yet in Malaysia and 80% of those infected were locals.
Unfortunately, he said, many Malaysians who started showing symptoms for TB tended to turn to bomoh and sinseh and only came for treatment late as in the case of two teenagers who died recently because their parents had taken them to see a bomoh. They only sought medical treatment when their conditions were already serious.
There were 1,600 TB deaths recorded last year, he said, adding that a lot still needed to be done to educate Malaysians about the disease.
Dr Abdul Razak said that those between the ages of 30 and 40 were the most vulnerable to the disease besides those over 60 with weak immune systems.
He said a normal healthy person had a 10% risk of being infected.
He said higher TB cases were reported in Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
“TB can be cured. Come and see us early,” he said.
Dr Abdul Razak said the cure for TB was effective but patients must complete the six-month treatment or they could be infected with multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and the treatment would be costly and with more side-effects.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/17/nation/8283843&sec=nation
KUALA LUMPUR: Many Malaysians are not aware that tuberculosis (TB) is still a danger and this has resulted in them seeking treatment late.
Institute of Respiratory Medicine director Datuk Dr Abdul Razak Muttalif said TB sufferers who did not seek early treatment were also contributing to more infections.
Last year, over 18,000 new TB cases were detected, showing a 12.5% increase from 16,000 in 2008, he said.
“When they come in late for treatment, they would have spread it to 10 or 20 other people,” he said.
Dr Abdul Razak said TB was not under control yet in Malaysia and 80% of those infected were locals.
Unfortunately, he said, many Malaysians who started showing symptoms for TB tended to turn to bomoh and sinseh and only came for treatment late as in the case of two teenagers who died recently because their parents had taken them to see a bomoh. They only sought medical treatment when their conditions were already serious.
There were 1,600 TB deaths recorded last year, he said, adding that a lot still needed to be done to educate Malaysians about the disease.
Dr Abdul Razak said that those between the ages of 30 and 40 were the most vulnerable to the disease besides those over 60 with weak immune systems.
He said a normal healthy person had a 10% risk of being infected.
He said higher TB cases were reported in Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
“TB can be cured. Come and see us early,” he said.
Dr Abdul Razak said the cure for TB was effective but patients must complete the six-month treatment or they could be infected with multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and the treatment would be costly and with more side-effects.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/17/nation/8283843&sec=nation
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