Pakistan with a significant prevalence of primary tuberculosis is also experiencing instances of TB-induced complications that severely damage lungs of patients, usually aged between 12 to 25 years. Experts talking to newsmen particularly referred to Empyema, a TB-induced complication among kids and youth, that was largely preventable.
"It is due to delayed referral and lack of proper understanding among general physicians that the patients are denied of a quality life," said a senior medical consultant Dr Tayyab Ahmed. He said there was need for proper understanding and expertise among medical community to manage TB empyema and chronic empyema. Dr Ahmed pointed out that there were very few thoracic surgery units in the country.
This, he said also denied patients to be provided with the much needed and timely intervention. Dr Tahir Ali said poor immunity of TB patients enhanced their risk to the often overlooked condition, in which the puss accumulates in the cavity between lung and pleural, ultimately causing irreversible damage to the lung. Mentioning the situation to be almost same in most parts of the country, he said children as young as two to three years old were brought to the teaching hospitals with the condition.
The bulk of the patients, however, ranged between 11 to 25 mainly teenagers, said Dr Tayyab Ahmed. As the patients pertain to the most productive age group and could be an asset if provided with an opportunity to be protected against the disease itself and also against its preventable complications, it demands due attention for quality and updated training of doctors and provision for relevant medical facilities.