The society considers the symptoms of tuberculosis as a common cough disease and not a serious one.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA — Arief Bakhtiar, a pulmonologist at the University of Airlangga (UNAIR), claims that confirmed cases of tuberculosis (TB) in children such as in Bantul, DI Yogyakarta, arise due to the habit of people indifferent to health, especially overestimate the cough. People often perceive TB symptoms as a normal cough and are not serious, so they are reluctant to seek medical attention.
“You can be sure that children who have confirmed TB are infected patients because there are TB positive people in their environment, but they don’t seek treatment and they don’t wear masks,” Arief said on Wednesday (12/28/2022).
Lecturer at the Department of Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine unair She explained, cases of tuberculosis in children are generally not contagious, unless there is active involvement of tuberculosis in the lungs. Tuberculosis in children is the result of infection from people around them or the family environment who suffer from pulmonary tuberculosis.
This transmission can be caused by active, undetected, or detected but untreated pulmonary tuberculosis. “Indeed, many of their surroundings have positive TB status but often don’t realize it and this is supported by intense contact over quite a long period,” said Arief.
Arief added, Children who get TB have symptoms that are almost the same as coughing in general. Some of the symptoms of TB disease in children include decreased appetite, body weight decreased but not increased, or increased but did not match the growth chart.
Subsequent symptoms are failure to thrive, chronic or recurring low-grade fever with no clear cause, the child is inactive (weakness, fatigue, chronic malaise), and chronic cough for at least two weeks. “Parents often don’t realize their child is infected with tuberculosis, so they just provide normal care without going to the health center or general practitioner,” Arief said.
Arief also explained that the baby’s immune factor is one of the important things that influence the transmission process. Also, children with poor nutrition or growth retardation tend to have weak immune systems, so they can easily become infected with tuberculosis.
“In stunted or malnourished children, the transmission process tends to be faster because TB can easily enter a patient with low immunity,” he said.
Arief appealed to parents to be more careful in distinguishing between common cough in children and symptoms of tuberculosis. If your child has started having symptoms, get tested at the health care center right away.
Especially now, tuberculosis treatment services are available at the nearest puskesmas, making it easier for the community to reach out. “Currently the government has provided access to free medicines and treatments that are easily accessible to the public in the treatment of tuberculosis,” said Arief.
Previously, the District Health Bureau Bantul reported the number of confirmed cases of tuberculosis (TB) in children. Of 1,216 tuberculosis cases, 619 were children.
