TB patients misdiagnosed
By, Tash Reddy, IOL.co.za, February 24, 2007
South Africa's desperate tuberculosis epidemic can only get worse as thousands of infected people have been sent back into their communities because of inadequate testing.
The World Health Organisation in October last year advised the South African national Department of Health to adopt more expensive screening methods.
Before this thousands of TB infected people went undetected as screening methods used - a standard, smear-sputum test - failed to diagnose the disease, resulting in misdiagnosed, infected people spreading the disease unknowingly in their communities.
Pietermaritzburg physician Doug Wilson, an expert on smear-negative TB, said about 60 percent of TB cases are smear-negative. "In communities with high HIV prevalence (ie. most of South Africa) smear-negative TB is a major health issue, and probably also a major cause of death," he said.
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070224084546586C432393
South Africa's desperate tuberculosis epidemic can only get worse as thousands of infected people have been sent back into their communities because of inadequate testing.
The World Health Organisation in October last year advised the South African national Department of Health to adopt more expensive screening methods.
Before this thousands of TB infected people went undetected as screening methods used - a standard, smear-sputum test - failed to diagnose the disease, resulting in misdiagnosed, infected people spreading the disease unknowingly in their communities.
Pietermaritzburg physician Doug Wilson, an expert on smear-negative TB, said about 60 percent of TB cases are smear-negative. "In communities with high HIV prevalence (ie. most of South Africa) smear-negative TB is a major health issue, and probably also a major cause of death," he said.
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070224084546586C432393
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 10:15 am
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