COVID-19 Threatens To Reverse Progress In Fight Against Tuberculosis, Warns WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Coronavirus pandemic has threatened to reverse global progress toward eliminating tuberculosis, warned the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday. According to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, due to COVID-19, the resources, which are used in fighting TB will now be drawn away to combat the deadly virus.
Geneva, October 14: Coronavirus pandemic has threatened to reverse global progress toward eliminating tuberculosis, warned the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday. According to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, due to COVID-19, the resources, which are used in fighting TB will now be drawn away to combat the deadly virus.
"The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to unwind the gains made over recent years," reported global news agency AFP quoting Ghebreyesus as saying. The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 37.7 million, while the deaths have soared to more than 1,078,860, according to the Johns Hopkins University. India’s COVID-19 Tally Crosses 72-Lakh Mark With 63,509 New Cases in Past 24 Hours, Death Toll Rises to 1,10,586.
As of Tuesday morning, the total number of cases stood at 37,738,569, and the fatalities increased to 1,078,868, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update. The United States is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 8,098,612 and 221,000, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 72,39,390, while the country's death toll soared to 1,10,586. Immunity Against COVID-19 May Last for 5 Months After Being Infected, Shows Study Led By Indian-Origin Researcher in US.
Last week, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said that co-infections like dengue and TB are likely to occur along with COVID-19. "Co-infection with Covid-19 is an important issue as we are now seeing patients with Covid-19 who have other infections. It becomes a bigger challenge as far managing Covid-19 and dengue is concerned," said Dr Guleria. However, according to experts, it is also difficult to distinguish symptoms of the two diseases due to overlapping initial clinical presentations and laboratory parameters.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2020 08:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).