Colombo, March 19 (IANS). A senior official of the National Program for Tuberculosis Control and Chest Disease (NPTCCD) said on Thursday that 8,500 to 9,500 cases of tuberculosis (TB) are recorded in Sri Lanka every year.
8,726 TB patients were detected in the country in 2025. The NPTCCD doctor told reporters that about 75 per cent of the patients had pulmonary TB, while about 5,500 had infectious bacteria that could spread the disease to others.
He said that about 45 percent of TB cases in the country are reported from the western region. TB cases are high in several densely populated areas of the Colombo district, including Modara, Mattakuliya, Borella, Wanathamulla and Grandpass.
The doctor said health officials expect cases to drop by about 500 next year, according to Xinhua News Agency.
TB is an infectious disease caused by bacteria and mostly affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when TB patients cough, sneeze or spit.
TB can be prevented and treated.
It is estimated that about a quarter of the world’s population is infected with TB bacteria. Generally, people infected with TB do not feel sick and they do not spread the contagious disease. About 5–10 percent of people infected with TB develop symptoms when they become infected with TB. If children are infected, they have a higher risk of getting sick.
The disease is usually treated with antibiotics and can be fatal without treatment.
In some countries, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is given to babies or young children to prevent TB. This vaccine prevents deaths from TB and protects children from severe forms of TB.
–IANS
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