The area, which covers North Tipperary, had 204 cases detected between 2012 and 2022, with medical professionals warning that the infection has not gone away.
While TB can be treated at any of the region’s hospitals including UHL and Nenagh, Public Health Mid-West and St John’s Hospital have teamed up to launch its official TB contact tracing, and testing clinic at the hospital which will service the people in North Tipp.
Senior Medical Officer for the area Dr. Grace McHugh says that while the disease is both preventable and treatable through antibiotics, it can have a more severe impact on certain groups such as infants, immune-suppressed, and older people.
She told Tipp FM that people should be aware of the symptoms and if concerned seek a screening.
“You generally know that you’re sick – you may have a persistent cough, develop night sweats so quite drenching sweats at night time. Fever that kind of comes and goes, You may notice that you’re losing weight that you hadn’t intended to lose. If you have a cough it may be productive of phlegm and you may even notice that there may be some blood in it. It’s a form of TB that we call and active TB.
“But for others they may have a more silent form of TB – what we call latent TB infection – that’s an area where we offer screening.”
Dr. McHugh says this bacterial infection mainly affects the lungs, and can also affect the kidney, spine, and brain however is curable through antibiotics.
She says it can have a greater negative impact on certain demographics.
“The latent TB…somehow we have contracted TB, our body has dealt with it and it may never cause us any problems. But as we grow older our immune system weakens so sometimes then that’s when it wakes up. Also if someone is on immuno-suppressant therapy their immune system can no longer suppress the TB that might be living in their body so then they get an activation of TB. Also smaller children are also at risk because their immune systems haven’t fully developed.
Clinic Details:
The Mid-West MyContact Clinic, which operates up to two days a week, will identify and screen close contacts of TB patients, and treat those that are identified through this process as having Latent TB Infection (LTBI).
TB that claimed 1.5 million lives globally in 2020.
Latent TB Infection (LTBI):
Sometimes, you can contract TB and not become symptomatic because the body has contained the infection. This is called Latent TB Infection (LTBI). The infection can become active later on if the immune system is no longer able to contain it. At this point, you may become infectious and seriously unwell.
LTBI can remain dormant for years or even forever, but it can be treated preventatively with antibiotics free of charge in the Mid-West MyContact Clinic. Untreated LTBI can reactivate when the body’s immune system can no longer suppress it, which can happen in elderly or vulnerable people with weak immune systems. If untreated, this can be fatal.
This clinic will serve as an effective dual benefit to both the individual and the community. The contact tracing process is crucial in preventing TB from developing in individuals who avail of this service. This service is also a key element in preventing the spread of TB in the community.
