Karnataka launches TB detection drive among COVID recovered patients

By Team Newsable | First Published Aug 17, 2021, 6:13 PM IST

Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar urged people who have recovered from Covid-19 to take part in the exercise voluntarily.

The Karnataka government on Tuesday launched a special drive to detect the spread of Tuberculosis (TB) among Covid recovered patients.

According to a statement released by the health department, doctors have been witnessing a rise in the number of TB cases and that too predominantly among Covid patients post recovery.

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"We are launching a door-to-door survey to detect the four common symptoms of TB. Our team of healthcare and ASHA workers will carry out an active case survey by visiting each house with Covid patients," said the statement.

Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar addressing reporters said, “There are more than 28 lakh people in the state who have recovered from the infection. Since both Covid-19 and TB infect the lungs, we have launched a special drive to ensure early detection of TB among people who have recovered from Covid.”

The Minister also urged the people who have recovered from Covid-19 to take part in the exercise voluntarily.

Further, he admitted that TB evaluation drives were inadvertently neglected due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sudhakar further added that, “If TB is detected at an early stage, treatment will become easier.”

TB is an endemic in India and during prolonged intermittent lockdowns since March last year, many people could not consult doctors despite developing symptoms. However, with situations improving now and the testing rate going up, detection of such cases early will enable swift treatment.

In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a campaign to eradicate TB from India by 2025, five years ahead of a globally-set deadline.

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