Tuberculosis cases emerge in St James
There has been an unexpected increase in Tuberculosis (TB) cases in the western parish of St James. The parish’s medical officer of health, Dr Francine Phillips-Kelly, noted a rise in the TB rate, with seven confirmed cases between January and March 2022, in contrast to none for the same period in 2021.
The medical officer shared the report from the local board of health on Thursday, 14 April 2022, in a meeting with the St James Municipal Cooperation (StJMC). Phillips-Kelly suggested that the insanitary practice of spitting in public and along the roadside created an increased risk for the spreading of the respiratory disease. “It could be that now that we have a decline in COVID-19, that our focus is changed and we are seeing more [tuberculosis cases], but the fact is that there is a worrisome increase in tuberculosis, a condition that we thought we were over decades ago,” said Phillips-Kelly. She also noted that there was an increase in TB cases over the past 30 to 40 years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that spreads in the air to people’s lungs when they cough, speak, or sing. Some symptoms of the illness include cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer, pain in the chest, coughing up blood or mucus and weakness or fatigue. Also, people who at high risk of contracting the disease include recently infected with TB patients and people with medical conditions that weaken the immune system.
In Jamaica, children must be vaccinated with the BCG vaccine for protection against severe forms of tuberculosis at birth, six weeks, three and six months old because immunisations are mandated by law before entering the early childhood education system.
But the CDC notes that people can still get TB infection or TB disease, even if they are vaccinated with BCG.
President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, Dr Mindi Fitz-Henley, had cautioned Jamaicans to prevent the spread of tuberculosis. Despite only 70 cases reported in the island up to 2020, because it would be dangerous to contract both tuberculosis and COVID-19. The Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) website urges people who are exposed to the TB bacteria, to “go to your doctor or your local health department for tests.”
