1,150 TB cases detected in a week in Karnataka

Just a week into the door-to-door campaign, the Department of Health and Family Welfare has identified 1,150 cases of tuberculosis across the state.

On July 15, the Health Department launched an active case finding the campaign for tuberculosis. This was to identify cases in a more organised manner.

As part of the campaign, teams of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) have been doing rounds knocking on doors. Through this method, as many as 1,150 cases have been identified in the state. The highest number of cases are reported from Belagavi, Ballari and Mysuru districts. Each of these districts has reported over 100 cases each in a span of just seven days.

“Active finding was started so that we could reach out to a larger population. We are also looking at presumptive cases going by the symptoms,” said a source in the department.

The active case finding the team is reaching out to households. Tests are being conducted on those who complain of cough, pain in the chest and fever which are typical symptoms.

The department has identified 13,761 “high-risk” areas - mostly in Bengaluru Urban, Belagavi, Ballari, Tumakuru, Davanagere, Koppal and Bagalkot districts.

The patients who have been identified through the survey will be enrolled in the department’s list. They will be given patient cards and counselled for treatment.

Dr Venkatesh R, District Health Officer, Mysuru, attributed these numbers to a growing population. “We have a lot of migration here as
well,” he said.

The DHO has also asked private hospitals to ensure that tuberculosis cases are reported immediately. “The numbers are also high as a consequence of better reporting. We do not hide figures,” he said.

Dr S C Munnyal, DHO, Belagavi, said that the numbers could be attributed to the average socio-economic status of people in the district. “Tuberculosis is a droplet infection most common among people with low immunity and lower economic status. We have a lot of migratory population in the district out of which a good number are labourers. We have hence identified slums and alerted private doctors also to be on the toes and report cases. The target is to cover 10 lakh population,” he said.