Dr. Bamidele Iwalokun, a Medical Researcher, has advised parents to ensure that they handle cases of Tuberculosis among children without any delay.
Iwalokun, of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research in Yaba, Lagos, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday.
He said TB was an all-year-round-disease, occurring more during the rainy season.
He identified cough as one of the symptoms of the TB and others diseases affecting the human wind pipes.
The researcher then urged parents to always pay attention to their children and ensure that they visit their physicians regularly and when they suspect any unpleasant health situation.
They should also ensure that their children sleep in well-ventilated rooms because overcrowding was also a risk factor for TB in children.
Iwalokun said: “Parents should also make sure that their children get BCG vaccine at nine months and also a boosted dose of this vaccine at 15 to 18 months of age.
“Parents should also know all the symptoms of TB in children, which are fever, weight loss, distended stomach, swollen neck, also called cervical lymphadenitis, and persistent cough.
“There are no licensed herbal medicines that can cure TB in children.
“This is one of the bad practices that delay appropriate treatment of TB and influence the development of multi-drug resistant TB in the country.”
Iwalokun said the treatment of TB needed good and modern healthcare facilities, a national treatment policy, well equipped laboratory and continuous staff training.
All these would be needed to diagnose tuberculosis at all healthcare centres, he said.
The researcher said it was also a sign that the airway had been irritated by environmental factors like mycobacterium, inflammation and toxins of pathogens.
He said: “When cough becomes persistent for more than two weeks and is accompanied by blood, then that is a sign of tuberculosis.
“Coughing accompanied with blood, also called hemoptysis, is more common in adults than in children with tuberculosis.”
Iwalokun also said “cough is not expressed by every child with tuberculosis.
“This is because extra pulmonary tuberculosis is the form of tuberculosis that is more common in children and not pulmonary tuberculosis.”
According to him, tuberculosis can be grouped into two: zoonotic infection and human infection.
“Zoonotic infections are TB that can be contracted by interacting with animals such as cat which served as reservoirs of zoonotic TB,” he said.
Iwalokun said typical or environmental tuberculosis occurred commonly during the dusty or harmattan period.
Iwalokun said children were susceptible to zoonotic TB because of their love for cats and other pets
He said: “This possibility has evidence but not in Nigeria.
“However, evidence is required to inform appropriate interventions in the country.
“However, veterinary doctors in the country who domesticate pets need to maintain good and hygienic practices with pets.”
Iwalokun emphasised health promotion activities by relevant stakeholders as one of the ways to enlighten the public.
Iwalokun said research had shown that children living with adults that were treating TB or with history of TB could contract it.
Also, those living in an area where the incidence of TB was high were at higher risk, he said.
He said precaution should be taken in this situation to prevent TB in children by ensuring that children were not exposed to some of these dangers.
NAN.
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