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Last Added News
- Will There Be a New Pandemic?
- The article titled Portraits from Our Medical History: Dr. Tevfik Salim Sağlam has been published.
- The article titled Questions on Immunization and Vaccination and Short Answers has been published.
- Diphtheria Epidemiology in Türkiye Throughout History Has Been Published
- Portraits from Our Medical History: Dr. Elhan Özlüarda (1927-2013) Has Been Published
- ALL NEWS
24 March World Tuberculosis Day
Each year, March 24 is celebrated as “World Tuberculosis Day” by World Health Organization (WHO) in order to raise awareness on the efforts of prevention and elimination of this devastating disease and on health, social and economical results caused by global tuberculosis (tuberculosis) epidemic.
March 24 is commemorated the date in 1882 when Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacillus that causes tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is the second communicable disease that causes the most death rates in the world after COVID-19 disease. Although it is preventable and treatable disease, every year around 30 thousand people all over the world contract the disease and 4100 people die from it. It is estimated that a quarter of the world population is infected by the mycobacterium tuberculosis. The disease develops in 5 – 15% of these people. Tuberculosis is one of the leading reasons of death for people with HIV. In addition, it is among the reasons for contribution into antimicrobial resistance.
In 2020, with the effect of COVID-19 pandemic, it has been reported that 10 million people around the world have been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and 1.5 million people have died due to the disease.
Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium named Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The disease usually affects lungs. It is transmitted through the air by coughing, sneezing or saliva of people with pulmonary tuberculosis.
The aims of tuberculosis control are to prevent the emergence of new cases, to provide early diagnosis and treatment to patients, to prevent deaths, to prevent development of drug resistance and transmission of resistant bacilli, to heal resistant cases with early diagnosis and effective treatment. Ways of prevention from tuberculosis are treatment of infectious patients, preventive drug therapy, prevention of transmission and BCG vaccination.
Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is a live attenuated vaccine containing M. bovis strain and was produced in 1921 by two French scientists, one of whom was a bacteriologist named Leon Charles Albert Calmette and the other one was a vet named Jean Marie Camille Guerin. BCG vaccine has been administered to more than four billion people up-to-date. BCG vaccine protects against miliary tuberculosis and meningitis, which will be induced, rather than the disease.
It is known that ‘The Society for the Fight Against Tuberculosis’, the first institution for tuberculosis control in Türkiye, was established by Dr. Behçet Uz in İzmir, on February 18, 1923. The first Tuberculosis Control Dispensary was opened in İstanbul, in 1923.
In Türkiye, BCG vaccine was administered to the kids orally by Directorate of Hygiene of İstanbul in 1931. Injection application started in 1952 as four doses. Until mid – 1970s, it was continued in the form of BCG vaccine campaigns. It was started to administer as two doses in 1997, and single dose in 2006.
In the National Childhood Vaccination Schedule, BCG vaccination is currently administered as single dose two months after the delivery of baby.