Medication to fight tuberculosis
Tuberculosis will continue to keep us busy for a while yet, as treatment lasts for at least six months in each case, and a new TB infection could still spread. That said, we believe that we have the disease under control for now. In addition to giving medication to all children and adults who have active or latent tuberculosis, we will now put all children under the age of five on a course of preventive treatment. This mainly covers those children who might still become ill after being exposed to the disease. The decision was taken in consultation with Prof. Otto Schoch, consultant at the Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen, and medical advisor to the tuberculosis center run by the Lungenliga Schweiz charity. Around 20 children are being treated in this way.
In case you missed our previous report, a total of 120 children and 50 adults at Maison des Anges were screened for tuberculosis. This involved both a skin test and a saliva test. Some individuals had to have multiple such tests. Our youngest residents had their saliva taken using a gastric tube on three consecutive days. X-rays were done where the signs pointed to TB. The screening program was very complex and time-consuming, but worth it: 70% of all those examined were treated with medication, in most cases owing to latent tuberculosis. We would like to thank all of our donors for their fantastic support. Only thanks to you was the Maison des Anges management able to bring the outbreak under control. Thank you!
