Low TB Cases in SVG Amidst Global Surge

Available statistics show that Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with 3500 people losing their lives to TB each day.

However, between 2021 and 2024 in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), there have been only 10 recorded cases of TB.

It is a disease that occurs due to an infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. People may have either active TB, which is contagious and causes symptoms, or latent TB, which does not cause symptoms or spread to others.

The disease mostly affects the lungs, but can also affect other areas of the body, including the liver, bones, reproductive system, and gastrointestinal tract.

SVG’s low TB count comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) says that a total of 1.25 million people died from TB in 2023 (including 161, 000 people with HIV), making it the world’s most infectious disease, killing more persons than COVID-19. There are also claims that close to two billion people- one quarter of the world’s population, may be infected.

Medical Officer of Health and Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Roger Duncan said on Thursday, November, 2024, that in SVG, there was one case in 2021, four in 2022, four in 2023 and one so far in 2024.

Dr. Duncan noted that as medical professionals here, effectively treating infected persons, making sure they take their medication and doing contact tracing is important in fighting TB.

He said the treatment is very important, and medical professionals must make sure to follow up with patients to avoid the spread of the disease. Active TB will probably be treated with a combination of antibacterial medications for a period of six to 12 months.

Another problem with TB worldwide is that some strains do not respond to the usual medications used to treat the condition. When you have this drug-resistant strain, it means that you will be treated with a combination of second-line drugs, which may be less effective and have to be taken for a longer period of time.

Multidrug-resistant TB disease (MDR TB) is caused by germs that are resistant to two or more of the main TB medicines.

“An important thing is multidrug-resistant, and it is important to note that in St Vincent and the Grenadines we don’t have that, which means our treatment has so far always worked for TB cases.

“What we are working on is trying to see how best the Ministry of Health could move towards the elimination of TB, meaning no local cases,” Dr. Duncan told SEARCHLIGHT.

He stressed that in an effort to achieve elimination, it is important to effectively treat infected people and those with whom they come in contact.

“TB treatment is up to three months and beyond, and they have to take their medication and people who don’t complete the treatment and don’t follow up is a problem, so we have to make sure that this doesn’t happen,” Dr. Duncan said.

Another local doctor, commenting on TB said that in SVG the numbers are not above average and that is a good thing. She said the disease is an opportunistic infection and affects less than one percent of the population.

“It is a reportable disease and treatable disease that luckily, is not plaguing here,” the medical doctor told SEARCHLIGHT, adding however, that in populated countries it is hard to contain as coughing close to someone can cause its spread.

“That’s why they all wear masks regardless in those countries.”

A nurse who works at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) said there are cases “here and there”, some associated with immunocompromised persons (HIV/AIDS). She however felt that contact tracing is not of the best and the MCMH is not properly equipped with isolation rooms ,but proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is not a problem.

The nurse said the building which was constructed at Argyle during the COVID-19 pandemic is the type of facility that should be used for treating TB, but that facility is not available due to improper maintenance.

“TB patients should be in rooms with negative pressure, meaning airflow should be directed into the room, not out of it,” said the nurse ,who added that this sort of set-up is not readily available at the MCMH ,and also situations can arise where someone is diagnosed with TB and family members or close contacts of that person can take public transportation and go to visit the TB patient thus causing spread, a scenario that is often overlooked in relation to infectious diseases.

According to the WHO, most of the people who fall ill with TB live in low- and middle-income countries, but TB is present all over the world. About half of all people with TB can be found in eight countries, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and South Africa.