Dr. Kalil and experts explain why tuberculosis is on the rise again

Brazil records between 80 and 90 thousand new cases of tuberculosis per year, according to data from the Ministry of Health. On the CNN Vital Signs program last Saturday (6), infectologist Nancy Bellei and pulmonologist Clystenes Odyr Soares Silva, both professors at Unifesp, spoke with Dr. Roberto Kalil about why this scenario is worrying.

Nancy highlighted that the pandemic has seriously hampered care for other diseases. "We were careless during the first years of the pandemic. It really hindered us from being able to take care of other diseases in the population", highlighted the infectious disease specialist.

The specialist also recalled that the disease is directly associated with socioeconomic conditions. "Tuberculosis goes hand in hand with malnutrition, alcoholism, social difficulties, users of illicit drugs, patients who live with the HIV virus and don't take care of themselves, don't get treatment", explained Nancy.

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Treatment abandonment and bacterial resistance
Clystenes reinforced the alarming data, adding that the year 2025 would see six thousand deaths from tuberculosis in Brazil. He highlighted that, although the response to treatment is quite positive, with a reduction in transmissibility after two or three weeks of medication, abandonment of treatment represents a serious problem.

"The patient, after one or two months of treatment, feels very well and stops. During treatment, it is recommended that he not drink alcohol, that he avoid smoking, that he eat right. And he feels so good that he stops [the treatment]", he explained.

This behavior, according to Clystenes, generates an even more worrying consequence. "Treatment-resistant bacilli, this is a challenging thing," he warned. Complete treatment lasts at least six months, depending on the patient's clinical condition.

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Despite the challenging scenario, experts highlighted that Brazil has a robust national tuberculosis control program.

"The SUS fully provides treatment, this treatment is supervised and, consequently, with this we break the chain of transmission", stated Clystenes.

Nancy added that health workers visit patients' homes to deliver medication and monitor treatment, but that much of this work has been lost during the pandemic.

The two experts reinforced the importance of raising public awareness. Nancy warned that people with a persistent cough for more than three weeks, which does not improve even after using antibiotics, should seek medical attention immediately, as this could be a sign of the disease.

The texts generated by artificial intelligence on CNN Brasil are made based on video cuts from the newspapers in its programming. All information is investigated and checked by journalists. The final text is also reviewed by the CNN journalism team. Click here to find out more.

Source: CNN