South Coimbatore most prone to TB in district

Times of India: Coimbatore: Friday, 03 July 2015.

According to data available with the state government's health department, Sundakkamuthur, a semi-urban area in Coimbatore, is the hotspot for tuberculosis in the district. More than 80 of the 870 TB cases reported in the state between this January and April end this year, are from Sundakkamuthur.

Kolarpatti village stands second with 68 TB cases during the same period. Doctors attribute the high incidence of tuberculosis in Sundakamuthur to the poor socio-economic conditions prevailing in the densely populated residential area where most cannot afford medical care.

The data also shows that the bacterial infection affects more men than women.

Information obtained through an RTI application revealed that 85 of the 870 cases are from Sundakkamuthur. "Tuberculosis over a period of time becomes endemic to certain parts of the district," says Dr A Soundaravel, resident medical officer-in-charge at the government hospital. "This could be because of a variety of reasons such as low socio economic status, lack of adequate medical care and an increasing number of people who fail to seek treatment. This leads to higher transmission rates," he says.

Overall, south Coimbatore seems more vulnerable than North Coimbatore. Panchayats along North Coimbatore recorded just half the cases compared to their southern counterparts. While Mettupalayam recorded just 31 cases, Annur recorded 27 cases, Karamadai, 31 cases and Thudiyalur recorded 55 cases. "This could be because of the stone cutting, grinding or marble-cutting industries in South Coimbatore, as workers and residents in the vicinity inhale silica that is often emitted from these work sites," said Dr V R Pattabhiraman, consultant in pulmonary medicine at Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital. It could also be that more patients in Kolarpatty and Sundakkamuthur are using the government provided health facilities, he added.

While north Coimbatore has more private hospitals and clinics, infected residents may just not be seeking help, said Dr V Nandagopal, consultant pulmonologist at G Kuppusamy Naidu Memorial Hospital.

But what is alarming, say doctors, is that most patients fall between the age group of 15 and 40 years. "People who have weak lungs and low immunity are vulnerable to TB," said Dr Soundaravel.

The statistics also show that incidence of the bacterial infection is 40% more in men than in women. "This is mainly because of higher alcohol consumption and smoking among men and unhealthy work environment which weakens their lungs over a period of time," said the deputy director of the tuberculosis department, Dr T Sakthivel. "Men, especially those working in construction breathe in a substantial amount of dust which weakens the lungs," said Dr Soundaravel.

Doctors say the number of patients undergoing treatment for the infection is going up every year. In 2014, the number of tuberculosis cases registered for treatment across the 27 centres stood at 3,271, a 20% jump from the 2,735 cases enrolled for treatment in 2013.