And the world won’t shut down for this...

[1ofakind]

1.5 million people a year die from TB but because of global Covid shut downs the overall deathtoll is estimated to increase by 1.4 million over the next few years.

“We just need to keep in mind that TB, as well as other diseases, keep affecting and killing people every single day, not just Covid-19.”

Millions of people are expected to fall ill with tuberculosis due to coronavirus lockdown

"This situation makes me sick, because (it) is totally avoidable," Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership, said.

www.cnbc.com

 

[missy]

Interestingly enough scientists are exploring an old TB vaccine in the fight against Coronavirus.

An Old TB Vaccine Finds New Life in Coronavirus Trials

Studies are underway to test whether giving a shot of BCG vaccine could protect doctors and nurses against COVID-19.

www.the-scientist.com

 

[qubitasaurus]

A covid vaccine based on TB seems to have already gone to clinical trials -- to be deployed on health care workers acceoss a number of western countries.

1ofakind that article is very muddled, and contained some very confusing statements such as: estimates are based on badly impacted areas (where TB is endemic) and extrapolated to the rest of the world.
As TB is airborn and can hang in the air for a long time (so that someone coughs and the lingering air remains infectious up to several hours) I was under the impression one of the worst vectors for it was mass gatherings of people. For instance the Kumbh Mela which attracts a crowd of 50 million people in India was the cite of one of the more recent large scale epedimeological studies for TB transmision (I actually watched them plan this study. It was pretty epic. The kumbh mela shifts location, and is incredibly difficult to plan arround. People gather in places without any infrastructure in fairly incredible tent cities with numbers that routinely hit 50-100 million people, and there can be stampeeds which crush and kill large numbers of people for no good reason.).

So I can only assume there will be a bunch of competing factors as a result of covid. Some dampening the TB virus transmission and some increasing it. Indeed one of them will definitely be that as we shift medical and financial resources onto coronavirus we will naturally probably cause problems for containment of other diseases. And deplete resources from programs actively working to contain these other diseases.

But there is a nasty rising dengue outbreak in south east asia and there was another outbreak of Ebola virus circulating in Africa which probably both require us to divert a lot more resources to combat. Unlikely in current circumstances. Meanwhile people are dying in western countries like the US of perfectly preventable stuff (just because medical resources are stretched or they dont go to the hospital when they should.). All part of the same phenomena.

 

[Queenie60]

Interestingly enough scientists are exploring an old TB vaccine in the fight against Coronavirus.

An Old TB Vaccine Finds New Life in Coronavirus Trials

Studies are underway to test whether giving a shot of BCG vaccine could protect doctors and nurses against COVID-19.

www.the-scientist.com

Interesting. Thank you @missy - I was not aware of this.

 

[1ofakind]

Meanwhile people are dying in western countries like the US of perfectly preventable stuff (just because medical resources are stretched or they dont go to the hospital when they should.). All part of the same phenomena.

In most of the US hospitals and Dr offices are empty.
’Elective’ procedures have been limited or forbidden altogether In many states But some of those procedures will save lives down the line. Even in areas that aren’t overwhelmed the media has terrified people to the point that they just stay home instead of going to the ER.

'Where are the strokes and the heart attacks?' Doctors worry as patients avoid ERs

 

[Calliecake]

I don’t feel the media is terrifying people. People need to be aware of what is happening. Would you rather not know? Elective surgery’s are being scheduled again in many parts of the country.

 

[qubitasaurus]

In most of the US hospitals and Dr offices are empty.
’Elective’ procedures have been limited or forbidden altogether In many states But some of those procedures will save lives down the line. Even in areas that aren’t overwhelmed the media has terrified people to the point that they just stay home instead of going to the ER.

'Where are the strokes and the heart attacks?' Doctors worry as patients avoid ERs

Sorry I was thinking about things I had read like this

Diverting NHS care away from cancer patients ‘threatens more lives than the coronavirus’

The NHS focus on fighting the coronavirus could have “serious consequences” for the health of millions of Britons suffering from other illnesses, health experts have warned.NHS trusts are already cancelling some cancer operations and treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in order to f

www.thetimes.co.uk

and

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/heart-attacks-covid-1.5552090

Would post the same thing for the US but I am less familar with reputable news websites (find US media confusing so I usually don't read it). I remember similar figures on heart attack reports for the US, and apparently people are also experiencing delays in cancer treatment. (should also clarify that by preventable, I mean their prognosis may be different if they received immediate care).

 

[1ofakind]

I don’t feel the media is terrifying people. People need to be aware of what is happening. Would you rather not know? Elective surgery’s are being scheduled again in many parts of the country.

That is obviously a subjective conclusion. Why else would a woman wait 4 days to seek medical treatment when she knew she was having a stroke And heart attack patients not call 911? I know an older woman who was sleeping in an N95 mask...not at all a good idea. Her family is begging her to still go to her brain cancer scan because her symptoms are worsening (paranoia is not one of the symptoms) and thats not even at the hospital. Yes some people are terrified!

Being informed is a good thing of course...being reassured that it’s ok to go to the ER if having an actual emergency would also be good but has not been very effectively communicated.