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Adetutu Sobowale.
The Director of Pubic Health in the Ogun state Ministry of Health, Dr. Kayode Soyinka has declared that cough is not the only symptom to watch out for in Tuberculosis patient, adding that some TB patients doesn’t cough.
He also urged the general public to call for help once their cough persist for two weeks.
The Director disclosed this during the 2022 World Tuberculosis Day Celebration Programme, themed: “Invest to end TB, Save lives” held at Oke-ilewo health center in Abeokuta.
Soyinka explained that there are other symptoms of TB to watch out for and urged Ogun residents to be vanguards propagating Tuberculosis awareness.
He said, “The commonest symptoms of TB is cough lasting two weeks or more. There maybe and there may not be other manifestations.
“Not all TB patient have cough as the symptoms, there could be others symptom.
“Some manifestations are night sweets, easy tiredness when somebody takes a short distance, breathlessness, weight loss and coughing out of blood.
“In children, sometimes it may not be cough, you may see some with lymph node at the base of the neck which can easily be pushed as TB.
“Also we might have children who are malnourished and TB has push them into malnutrition.
“Other signs you will see includes protruding abdomen, inability to gain weight, poor appetite, severe weight loss. These can point attention to possibility of TB in these children.
“But, we don’t want people to wait until they see all these. Anybody with cough that lasts two weeks or more should come to the health facilities and complain.
“Very strong for children is if there is history of an adult that was diagnosed for TB in the same house.
“If a child that has TB was picked in school, we would provide treatment.
“Somebody who has taken drugs for about two weeks to a month is not likely to transmit the infection. If the child is fit enough to go to school the child can continue to attend his studies and that is the importance of coming out on time.
“If somebody who is coughing for two weeks or more come out on time, he will receive treatment without needing to stay at home.
Soyinka stated that the treatment of TB is free, adding that the state government is focusing on school children as an approach to reach millions of people.
He said, “”This year, Ogun state is particularly focusing on school children because it is an approach that ensures that we have a large number of persons that we can reach face to face.
“Who can also be vanguard of carrying the information to their various homes. If you look at one single student, he would be coming from a home where there are two others, a father and a mother and where there are other siblings.
“So, it’s a strategy to reach hundreds of persons at a time. Also because there had been occasions where we have had TB among our school children.
“So, we believe that if we give them enough education of TB they will quickly be able to identify somebody that needs to be helped and do the needful. So that they can access our free TB diagnosis and TB drug treatment which is to cure TB.
“This opportunity create a platform for us to let people know that diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis is free in all government facilities and in selected private facilities that are collaborating with the national TB program.
“For instance in Ogun state, we have 600 facilities including over 261 private facilities that you can access TB treatment.”
