Tuberculosis and you

The article "Number of TB-infected people expected to swell" in The Jakarta Post, Feb. 15, 1999, could perhaps give rise to a misconception. In the last paragraph, it quotes Deddy Ruswendi of the Ministry of Health as saying, "a TB carrier could easily transmit [TB] to at least 10 people, simply by talking with or coughing around them."

This is true only of someone with active tuberculosis. When a person is exposed to TB germs and becomes infected, they have TB infection, sometimes referred to as latent TB. During this period they are not infectious. People is this period are referred to as "TB carriers".

Normally only 5 percent to 10 percent of TB carriers ever develop active TB and become infectious. Also, active TB can normally be cured, though it requires a rather long treatment which must be adhered to strictly. However, patients are usually no longer infectious after two months of this treatment. Once cured, they become noninfectious carriers again, although some do relapse and become active once more.

TB infection often carries a stigma not unlike that attached to AIDS, and, as noted in the article, this may prevent infected people from seeking treatment. We should therefore take care not to add to the misconceptions which may reinforce this stigma.

The article also incorrectly notes that World Tuberculosis Day is on March 27, quoting Hadiarto Mangunnegoro of the Indonesian Association of Tuberculosis Eradication. In fact, World TB day is held on March 24, as confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It was on this day in 1882 that Dr. Robert Koch announced the discovery of the TB bacillus.

According to WHO, "it was this discovery which paved the way for the potential elimination of this fearsome disease." It is heartening to see that there are plans for commemorative activities. It is to be hoped that both the government and the public will use this occasion to reflect on the fact that many in Indonesia and the world continue to suffer from a disease which can be cured consistently for less than US$20.

CHRIS W. GREEN

WartaAIDS

Jakarta