‘Better testing, detection’, TB cases recorded in 2022 highest in 5 years

In 2020 and 2021, the pandemic had caused serious challenges in diagnosis and treatment of TB, leaving many with undiagnosed infection. Doctors said that drastic reduction in the number of people diagnosed with TB indicates a rise in undiagnosed and untreated TB cases, resulting in more community transmission.

In 2018, the city had reported 53,828 cases, which surged to  60,387 in 2019. In 2020, the year the pandemic broke out, many refrained from visiting hospitals, which pulled down the detection rate by 28% — 43,244 patients were diagnosed. In 2021, with gradual relaxation of restrictions, better screening of patients spikes the detection rate.

Dr Mangala Gomare, BMC executive health officer, said that post-Covid, there has been a rise in the detection of TB cases globally. “Last year, we took up several initiatives for early screening to gauge the gaps of pandemic years. We held camps and appointed TB survivors to counsel patients, which helped in decreasing the dropout rate,” she said.

The WHO, while unveiling the Global TB report last year, stated that an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2021, an increase of 4.5% from 2020.

Doctors said there has been a significant rise in TB cases among children. “Amid the pandemic, schools were shut and children weren’t allowed to venture out… This made them more susceptible to infection in families with active TB patients. Thus, we can see more paediatric patients post-pandemic,” Dr Bela Verma, paediatric unit head at JJ Hospital, said.

However, there is a silver lining as despite the ongoing robust screening, cases of drug-resistant TB haven’t witnessed any sudden spike. In 2022, the city reported 5,602 cases of drug-resistant TB, a slight drop from the 5,976 cases reported in 2021.

During the pandemic, the detection of cases had dropped drastically to 4,775 in 2020.