Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease, usually spread through cough. But a shocking revelation has come to light in recent research. According to the study, more than 80% of TB patients did not have symptoms of persistent cough, which makes it possible that the disease can also spread through breathing.
Scientists at the Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands conducted a study on more than 6 lakh people in Africa and Asia, in which they found that 62 percent of the patients had no cough at all and 20 percent had only a cough for less than two weeks. The research findings have been published in PNAS.
A study did like this
Researchers divided the data into three stages - no persistent cough for two weeks or more, no cough at all, and no symptoms - to detect subclinical pulmonary TB. A total of 6,02,863 participants were included in this study. These were divided into three groups and then analyzed. 82.8% percent did not have persistent cough during the study. It was difficult to identify and treat the disease in such patients.
Women and youth are at greater risk
According to WHO, 13 lakh people lost their lives due to TB in the year 2022. After the Corona epidemic, this disease became the second leading cause of death. In the study, the proportion of TB without cough was found to be higher among women, youth, and urban residents. WHO said that TB patients in India are being identified on time, due to which diagnosis is also being done faster.
TB burden in India
According to WHO, 27% of TB cases were reported in India in 2022. That means every fourth TB patient found in the world was an Indian. The report said that 28.2 lakh people were suffering from TB in India. However, due to the increase in medical services of the government, the death toll decreased in proportion to 2021. There were 4.94 lakh deaths in 2021, which came down to 3.31 lakh in 2022.
(PC: Freepik)
