An approximate 70,000 search teams participated in the campaign to find cases of leprosy and tuberculosis that have remained undetected so far, Dr Adkekar said. (file)In a massive exercise to detect undiagnosed tuberculosis (TB) cases, Maharashtra health officials identified 3.59 lakh patients with suspected TB cases in around 20 days. The screening drive was conducted on a population of 7.5 crore from September 13 to October 1 across 56 districts.
The drive was part of the nationwide campaign and the Central Government’s long-term plan to eliminate TB by 2025. While tests and X-Rays are still being conducted, health officials confirmed that at least 6,417 persons have been diagnosed with TB for the first time during the drive held across Maharashtra, apart from another 5,000 cases of leprosy.
“Chest X-Rays were conducted on 2.36 lakh persons and the rest will be completed in the next 10-12 days. We found some abnormal chest X-Rays in 14,122 persons and till date around 6,417 persons have been confirmed with TB. We anticipate a total of 8,000 to 9,000 TB cases to be diagnosed as part of this drive,” Dr R S Adkekar, Maharashtra TB officer told The Indian Express.
At least 498 new TB patients have been detected in Pune (Pune Municipal Corporation area 110 – Pune Rural – 311 and Pimpri Chinchwad -77), while 468 in Ahmednagar and 471 patients in Solapur were diagnosed with TB.
An approximate 70,000 search teams participated in the campaign to find cases of leprosy and tuberculosis that have remained undetected so far, Dr Adkekar said.
Around 301 new cases of TB were identified in Sangli, 213 in Nagpur and 192 in Nashik. Apart from Mumbai (12 cases), health teams diagnosed 159 TB cases in Thane, 217 in Palghar and 67 in Navi Mumbai, 143 in Raigad, 185 in Osmanabad, 156 in Aurangabad, 205 in Amravati, 139 in Akola, 217 in Yavatmal, 160 in Latur, 132 in Chandrapur and other districts.
The Maharashtra State TB officer also pointed out that some districts had started the search for undetected TB cases at a later date like Mumbai. “Hence their active case finding drive is still under way,” he said. Around 5,000 cases of leprosy were also diagnosed as part of the drive, the officer said.
The screening essentially focused on people with cough and fever for more than two weeks and blood in the sputum. Active case detection efforts will help towards the early identification of suspected cases in the community which can then be promptly diagnosed and treated, Dr Adkekar said.
A total of 1.57 lakh TB cases were detected across Maharashtra from January till mid-September.