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Time of India
14-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
TB screening finds 37 cases in urban slums
N ew Delhi: Delhi health department's ongoing community-based tuberculosis (TB) screening drive in urban slums has identified 37 cases from among 9,200 people screened so far. The initiative, which uses artificial intelligence (AI)-powered diagnostics, aims to facilitate early detection, interrupt transmission chains, and swiftly reduce TB prevalence in high-risk areas. The first phase of the programme targets six high-burden National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) districts — Nehru Nagar, Narela, Karawal Nagar, Moti Nagar, BJRM and Shastri Park. You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi The department has deployed 21 portable AI-powered X-ray units, supported by 21 radiographers, 21 field officers and 7 laboratory technicians. According to the India TB Prevalence Survey (2019–2021), Delhi has the highest TB burden in the country, with a prevalence of 747 cases per lakh of the population and an infection rate of 61% (range: 57–65%). The capital has launched an intensive, slum-focused TB screening campaign designed to identify undiagnosed cases and rapidly reduce community transmission. Officials said the campaign aims to screen 40 lakh people over three years, with a goal of reducing TB prevalence by 25% in the targeted districts. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo Camps have been set up in both public and private spaces to demonstrate handheld X-ray technologies. A hub-and-spoke model has been implemented to ensure timely sputum collection and transportation, with a focus on TB-HIV co-infection for integrated care. Support from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) strengthened the effort, with the provision of 10 PathoDetect molecular testing machines, 7 additional handheld X-ray units, and ongoing technical guidance, said officials. A comprehensive advocacy, social mobilisation, and communication strategy is being rolled out to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and encourage active participation in slum clusters. The department has mapped over 600 slum localities across Delhi for coverage. The screening is prioritising high-risk groups such as people with diabetes, hypertension, compromised immunity, TB patient contacts, migrant labourers, the homeless, residents of JJ clusters and unauthorised colonies, and others living in densely populated areas.
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
3 kids die of TB as general physicians miss early signs
Mumbai: Three children aged 12 to 16 died of disseminated tuberculosis (TB) at one of the major public hospitals in the city over the last month not due to lack of treatment but because private general practitioners failed to diagnose the disease early. Disseminated TB refers to the spread of the disease from the lungs to other organs. Sometimes, even chest physicians miss its signs in paediatric patients. For instance, a 15-year-old girl was sent to the hospital as a drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) patient without further evaluation. "All we were told was that she had a headache. As soon as she arrived, she collapsed and had to be put on a ventilator. She was severely neurologically impaired with meningitis," said a doctor from the hospital's paediatric department. The girl's parents told the hospital that she had been vomiting for the past month: a classic telltale sign of disseminated TB. The hospital sees a few such cases every month. "Such patients visit general physicians first who fail to refer them to specialists till it is very late. That is what happened to the three who died," the doctor said. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai The head of the hospital's paediatric department said DR-TB remains a serious issue in children. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo "We are seeing every type of TB in children: abdominal, pulmonary, bone, brain, intestine, skin. Most of these patients rush in too late and in terrible distress, sometimes unconscious, with convulsions that cannot be controlled, and they all turn out to be TB patients." Paediatric TB cases in Mumbai account for about 7-9% of all TB cases, according to data from BMC's health department. The city reports around 60,000 TB cases annually. There is a considerable delay in seeking treatment for TB in the first place, and stigma as well as limited access play a role in this. Ganesh Acharya, a city-based TB-HIV activist, said, "A delay of two to three months in the treatment of children with TB is common. Families visit multiple general doctors who diagnose them with cough and cold, and in the end, it becomes a case of disseminated TB." For children aged 12-16, delayed diagnosis is far more common as parents often stop consulting paediatricians and instead take them to general practitioners. A former paediatrician at Sion Hospital who routinely treated TB patients said, "There are complex reasons as to why general practitioners are unable to diagnose TB patients; one is that the manifestation of TB in children is very different than that in adults. " In children, it can show up as pleural effusion (fluid in chest) or severe bronchitis, said the doctor. "There's a wide range of symptoms. That's why general practitioners often don't recognise it as TB." Dr Tanu Singhal, paediatric consultant at Kokilaben Hospital, said, "TB is common even among well-off families. General practitioners may miss or sometimes misdiagnose it, but these families often go to specialists early themselves if the child doesn't improve."
