TB patients warned against defaulting from treatment

Medics and Non-governmental Organizations spearheading the ‘Stop TB’ campaign in Garissa have warned patients on tuberculosis (TB) treatment against defaulting on their medications. 

Speaking during a media breakfast meeting at a Garissa hotel, Dr. Abdirashid Diney said that TB develops resistance to drugs once a patient does not complete the prescribed doses and would require to be treated for about 18 – 20 months as opposed to normal treatment of six months.

“When a patient stops taking his or her drugs midway, the TB germs adapt to those drugs and regenerate more aggressively.  It then takes more time with different types of drugs to treat patients to heal completely,” Dr. Diney said.

“While a person on medication for TB stops being infectious after a few weeks when the disease is under control, adherence to treatment is the surest way to defeat TB from our communities,” he added.

Dr. Diney further urged the residents to go for screening and cautioned them against self-medication and use of unapproved herbal medicines.

Some of the symptoms of tuberculosis in adults include shortness of breath, cough of any duration, soaking night sweats, and unexplained weight loss.

TB is an airborne disease which can be transmitted when a person sneezes, coughs, laughs, talks or sings. Children, the elderly, diabetic and people on steroids are at higher risk of infection.

In the last four years, Garissa County has cumulatively recorded about 3,682 cases of TB, with 60- 70 percent of the cases recorded in the municipality, while 20 percent were reported in the refugee camps.