The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is to strengthen latent tuberculosis (TB) screening and treatment programs aimed at eradicating the disease by 2035, it said yesterday at an event held ahead of World TB Day tomorrow.
Last year, the incidence of TB in Taiwan was 28 new cases per 100,000 people, down 62 percent from 73 new cases per 100,000 people in 2005, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) told the event at Taipei Railway Station.
Health officials are urged to be vigilant in managing people known to be infected with TB, be thorough in conducting contact tracing and give particular attention to detecting suspected latent TB infections, he said.
Photo: CNA
The community spread of TB is best contained before the infected person shows symptoms, Chou said.
About 6,000 new TB cases are reported in the nation each year, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said.
The CDC is rolling out a TB screening program in collaboration with hospitals for high-risk groups, including people with poorly managed diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or who are undergoing dialysis, she said.
The program aims to screen 15,000 people by the end of the year, Tseng said.
During the height of the TB pandemic, the disease was known to kill up to seven people every day in Europe and the Americas, a situation not remedied until Robert Koch on March 24, 1882, discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the germ that causes TB, she said.
Entertainer Chiang Tsu-ping (江祖平), who the CDC named as spokesperson for TB prevention, said that she had thought TB was an extinct disease from the history books, not an epidemic actively threatening the well-being of Taiwanese.
People in contact with a known TB case are urged to get screened as soon as possible to protect themselves and their loved ones, she said.
Latent TB infections have a 5 to 10 percent chance of becoming symptomatic, especially during periods of compromised immunity, Taiwan Society of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases chairman Wang Jann-yuan (王振源) said.
People should keep their homes well-aerated and lead a healthy lifestyle, while those diagnosed with TB should seek medical attention immediately, Wang said, adding that treatment can reduce infectiousness within two weeks.
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