• March 24th is World Tuberculosis Day. The WHO theme for the year 2022 is ‘Invest to End TB. Save Lives.’

• Tuberculosis has been documented in humans from the dawn of civilization going by various names like consumption, white plague, kshaya vyadhi etc.

• Even today, TB accounts for diseases with one of the highest mortality, especially in the developing and under-developed countries. In 2020, an estimated 1.5 million people died from TB around the world. Due to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, TB deaths increased for the first time in over a decade.

• Tuberculosis is a disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

• TB can affect any organ of the body, but lungs are most commonly affected.

• TB bacteria spread from person to person through air. When a person with active tuberculosis disease of the lungs coughs, spits or sneezes, the germs are thrown into suspended in the droplets. Any person in close distance who inhales these droplets gets infected.

• An infected person can develop active disease when the nutrition intake is poor, there is physical or mental stress, tobacco, alcohol or illicit drugs usage, diabetes, chronic lung, kidney and liver diseases, other immunocompromised conditions and HIV infection.

• India is a TB high burden country with an estimated 26 lakhs people developing tuberculosis disease annually. People of all socio-economic statuses are at risk of developing the disease in our country.

• Although TB can occur in any age group, those between 20-40 years are commonly affected.

• TB is insidious in nature. Any cough, with or without sputum production, blood on coughing, low grade fever, weakness, tiredness, and loss of appetite lasting for more than 2 weeks warrants a check up with a healthcare professional for tuberculosis.

• Tuberculosis is a treatable and curable disease. The right regimen of anti-TB drugs, taken for the prescribed duration of minimum 6 months, achieves high cure rates.

• Drug compliance, balanced diet and a regular follow up with the treating physician is very important for achieving cure. Timely anti tubercular therapy also helps prevent spread of infection to other healthy persons.

• Without proper treatment, TB can be lethal in 45% of HIV negative individuals, and 100% lethal in people living with HIV. Improperly treated TB can lead to the more dangerous drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR and XDR TB) which requires longer treatment duration with multiple drugs.

• Tuberculosis can be prevented by maintaining good nutrition, avoiding alcohol and tobacco usage, practising cough etiquette, hand hygiene and most importantly by timely identification and treatment of persons with active disease to break the chain of transmission.

• BCG vaccination for the newborns helps prevent the development of more serious forms of tuberculosis and needs to be given as per schedule.