Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Friday, March 23, 2018
(INDIANAPOLIS) - The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) will host an educational event to mark World TB Day on March 23 at Clowes Auditorium in the Indianapolis Public Library.
The event is free and will cover topics including tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology, radiology and interpreting TB lab reports. It will also feature a presentation by Dr. Maunank Shah, Johns Hopkins University associate professor of medicine and medical director for the Baltimore City TB Program.
"TB is a serious and sometimes fatal disease, so it's important to learn about it and get tested, particularly if you're in a high-risk group, which includes Asians, Hispanics, people with diabetes and those who use drugs and alcohol," said State Health Commissioner Kris Box, MD, FACOG. "Testing and treatment of latent TB infection among high-risk groups are critical to ending TB in Indiana and the United States."
In 2017, 100 cases of TB disease were reported in Indiana. Although this was an 8.3 percent decrease in the number of cases compared to 2016, the steady decline in cases has slowed in Indiana and the United States. Six people in Indiana died from TB in 2017, which was a slight increase from 2016.
TB is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a germ that primarily affects the lungs but can affect other organs, such as the brain, kidneys and spine. People who are infected with TB don't feel sick, don't have any symptoms and aren't contagious unless and until their infection develops into active TB disease.
TB bacteria are released into the air whenever someone with infectious TB sneezes, coughs, talks or sings. Once inhaled by someone else, the bacteria can be inactive, or they can settle in the lungs and begin to grow.
Approximately 10 percent of people infected with TB bacteria will develop active TB disease. Symptoms of active TB include a bad cough lasting longer than two weeks, coughing up blood, chest pain, fatigue or weakness, fever, weight and appetite loss, sweating at night and chills.
Go to https://worldtbday2018indy.eventbrite.com to learn more about the ISDH's World TB Day event and to register. The library is located at 40 E. St. Clair St. in Indianapolis.
To learn more about TB, visit the ISDH's website at http://www.in.gov/isdh/19662.htm.
Visit the ISDH at www.StateHealth.in.gov for important health and safety information, or follow us on Twitter at @StateHealthIN and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/isdh1.
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