AMMAN - The Health Ministry will soon resume carrying out tuberculosis (TB) skin tests on schoolchildren to examine the prevalence of the disease in the country's public schools.
"The study, which we started early this year, was halted for a while during the summer holiday and within the next few weeks, we will continue with it," Khalid Abu Rumman director of respiratory diseases and the foreign workers health department at the Ministry of Health, told The Jordan Times on Saturday.
Approximately 90 per cent of the study, which covers around 25,000 six-year olds, is complete, Abu Rumman said, adding that the results of the study would be disclosed before the end of this year.
"The tests will provide us with accurate figures on the prevalence of the disease and the number of those susceptible to contracting the infection in the future, which will also help in drawing up our strategies to combat its spread and contain it," said Abu Rumman.
He previously said that it is important for people to realise that TB is still a fatal disease and even more deadly than before as TB bacteria have developed multidrug resistance. TB and HIV are now the leading causes of death in the world, according to the official.
The JD50,000 study, funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the World Health Organisation and schoolteachers.
A total of 400 public schools are covered by the study, according to the official.
The ministry carries out TB tests every five years to assess the situation in the country. TB tests started in 1950 in cooperation with UNICEF, when 10 per cent of the students tested positive.
In 2000, the ministry estimated that one out of 200 children were found infected, while in 2006, the ministry registered 400 new cases - seven per 100,000 people.
Currently, the cure rate in Jordan stands at 90 per cent with five to six TB patients dying annually.
What Is TB?
Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to person through the air. TB usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine.
Symptoms
The general symptoms include feelings of sickness or weakness, weight loss, fever, and night sweats. The symptoms of TB of the lungs also include coughing, chest pain, and coughing up of blood.
Spread
TB germs are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. These germs can stay in the air for several hours, depending on the environment. Persons who breathe in the air containing these TB germs can become infected; this is called latent TB infection.
People with latent infection have TB germs in their bodies but they are not sick because the germs are not active. These people do not have symptoms of the disease and they cannot spread the germs to others. However, they may develop TB disease in the future and are often prescribed treatment to prevent them from developing it.
Tests
One of two tests that can be used to help detect TB infection is the Mantoux tuberculin skin test, which is performed by injecting a small amount of fluid (called tuberculin) into the skin in the lower part of the arm. A person given the tuberculin skin test must return within 48 to 72 hours to have a trained healthcare worker look for a reaction on the arm.
A positive tuberculin skin test only tells that a person has been infected with TB germs but not whether the person has progressed to TB disease. Other tests, such as a chest X-ray and a sample of sputum, are needed.
Treatment
TB can be treated by taking several drugs for 6 to 12 months. It is very important that people who have the disease finish the medicine and take the drugs exactly as prescribed. If they stop taking the drugs too soon, they can become sick again; if they do not take the drugs correctly, the germs that are still alive may become resistant to those drugs. TB that is resistant to drugs is harder and more expensive to treat.
http://www.cdc.gov
By Mohammad Ghazal
© Jordan Times 2007
