Parents, community encouraged to fight TB among children

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 03/24/2008 1:10 AM  |  Headlines

Health officials in Jakarta are calling on parents to be more aware of the threat of tuberculosis (TB) among children and to participate in the treatment of young sufferers of the deadly disease.

Pediatrician Emma Nurhema of city-owned Persahabatan Hospital said children suffering from TB needed the cooperation of parents and neighbors in the administration of their medicines.

"It is not easy to ask children to take the medicines constantly. Some get bored or they don't like the taste. Many parents usually stop giving drugs the moment the child feels better. But such behavior is not recommended, because intermittent medication will make the TB bacteria stronger and more resistant," she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

A typical TB patient, including children, should take a variety of medicines regularly for six months and, in some cases, for nine to 12 months.

In 2007, the city health agency recorded 139 cases of first-time sufferers of TB aged below 14, down from 145 in 2006 and 230 in 2005.

Tuberculosis is a contagious disease that mainly attacks the lungs but also other organs. The World Health Organization said in a 2008 report on TB there were an estimated 9.2 million new TB cases throughout the world. The report was released shortly before World TB Day, March 24.

TB is caused by the bacilli Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is transmitted via aerosol droplets expelled when those infected cough, sneeze, speak or spit.

Under a program called Directly Observed Therapy Short-term (DOTS), TB patients receive a combination of TB primary drugs for free.

Each year, there are about 485,000 first-time TB patients in Indonesia, 250,000 of which suffer from active TB. Indonesia has the third highest number of TB cases in the world, after India and China.

Emma said parents should learn to recognize the basic symptoms of TB in children, which include reduction in body weight, lack of appetite, fever and a cough that lasts more than two weeks.

"TB not only attacks lungs but also other organs like bones, brain nerves, skin, eyes and kidneys, and each diseased organ shows different specific symptoms," she said.

Ahmad Hudoyo, medical and advisory head at the Organization for the Eradication of Tuberculosis (PPTI) clinic in South Jakarta, told the Post diagnosis methods for TB in children differed from adults.

"Adults can be diagnosed as TB positive through saliva examinations. For children, a doctor makes a diagnosis through mantoux, by injecting a protein containing TB germs," said Ahmad, adding that TB in children was not infectious because the bacteria attacked the lymph system, not the lungs.

He said incidences of bacterial infections were higher in children with a weak physical condition.

"TB tends to attack children with low immunity or who suffer from malnutrition. So, it is important to always give the children nutritious food and to tell them to eat regularly to increase immunity," he said.

"Parents, especially mothers, play the role of drug-taking supervisors in curing children with TB, and they need to train their kids to take their medicines correctly." (trw)

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