Tuberculosis present in York Region

Vaughan Weekly
March 26, 2014

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be present in our community with more than 50 confirmed cases in the Region of York in 2013.

Globally, new TB infection rates have started to decline and mortality rates have decreased significantly since 1990, a trend that is also seen in York Region.

As physicians are seeing fewer TB cases, there may be a challenge among health care professionals to quickly diagnose TB. The symptoms of a bad cough lasting longer than three weeks, weakness or tiredness, weight loss, chills, fever and night sweats can resemble other illnesses and can result in a delay of a diagnosis of TB.

The TB program in York Region works to minimize the impact and spread of TB infection and disease by:

- Working with health care providers to ensure timely identification, assessment and management of all people with TB

- Providing all TB medications at no cost

- Monitoring TB clients for medication side effects

- Ensuring compliance with TB treatment requirements by making home visits or connecting with clients through video conferencing to observe clients taking their TB medications

- Identifying, assessing and ensuring the testing of those in contact with people diagnosed with TB. Last year, 473 contacts of TB cases were identified and assessed in York Region

Global awareness of TB is recognized each year on March 24, the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the TB bacillus. This came at a time when one out of every seven people in Europe and the Americas died from TB.

Today, TB is preventable, treatable and curable. There are new drugs and new drug combinations available to treat TB. For more information on TB or any other public health-related topic, please contact York Region Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653 or TTY 1-866-252-9933 or visit www.york.ca/tb.