Globally, 1 million children are getting TB, while 200,000 children are dying from TB every year (WHO, 2018 report).
Mongolia is one of the countries with the highest TB prevalence with around 4000 TB cases reported every year, out of which 10 percent is paediatric. The TB cases reported among the children indicate that transmission of TB is very high among the youth in Mongolia.
When in close contact with TB contracted patients for an extended amount of time in settings with poor air ventilation and in overcrowded places, many people can become infected, resulting in an outbreak. In Mongolia, the same situations of poor air quality and ventilation are common in buildings, especially in schools and kindergartens, due to the long period of cold seasons accompanied by air pollution.
In many parts of the world, TB outbreaks have been reported in school environments.
The outbreak of TB means that two or more active TB cases have been identified in one year within an epidemic area or infectious focus.
A TB outbreak has been recently reported in a general education school in Ulaanbaatar and schoolchildren and teachers were infected. In the school, more than 30 cases of TB were reported in 2019, with 529 or 35% of the total students getting infected with TB.
TB is transmitted through the respiratory tract, so anyone may be infected. Of the infected people, 10 percent is reported to fall ill with the disease, while 90 percent will have latent infection.
In cases of TB latent infection, people will not show any signs and the discomfort of the disease, as the TB bacteria remain in the people’s lungs in a dormant state. In this case, a tuberculin skin test is positive but does not spread to others.
In times of weakened immunity, the TB bacteria will become active and might develop the TB disease.
The main method to prevent those with LTB from becoming ill with TB is through preventative treatment. The result of the treatment is highly dependent on the use of TB medication as instructed by the doctor.
TB is curable.
If TB is suspected, people can be fully cured when enrolled in early diagnosis and treatment without delay, and taking medications regularly following the doctor’s instructions.