MDR TB RETURNS AT MBABANE GOVT HOSPITAL

MBABANE – There was commotion among nurses at the Mbabane Government Hospital, when a patient was discovered with the drug resistant tuberculosis known as MDR TB.
MDR TB is a multi drug resistant tuberculosis, which is regarded dangerous to the extent that patients who tested positive for it have to be isolated in a designated ward to reduce the probability of spreading the airborne disease. It is caused by bacteria that are resistant to treatment.

In the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, MDR TB was also said to be a dangerous illness. Government has designated a specific ward at the Nhlangano Health Centre where patients with MDR TB are admitted.
However, hospital sources said last week a patient had been treated at the Ward 12 of the hospital until it turned out that the disease was resistant to treatment. “After spending a few days at the hospital, he was subsequently tested for MDR and the results were positive. Nurses shied away from the ward in fear of getting infected,” a nurse said.

Ward 12 has been adversely affected by coronavirus over the past months as a doctor and two nurses have tested positive for the virus.
“Nurses who were on night duty had to stay away from the ward because they are aware of the infectious potency of MDR TB, especially because they did not have the right personal protection equipment at the time. The situation was saved when the patient was subsequently transferred to Nhlangano Health Centre, where he is receiving treatment,” said a source.

Rare

The source said cases of MDR had become rare in public hospitals.
“The common tendency was that patients with TB were being admitted at Moneni. If they are not responding to treatment there, they start showing signs of MDR and are then transferred to a designated ward,” said a source.
The nurse said though Ward 12 was partitioned with glasses a few years ago, it still lacked adequate facilities to accommodate MDR TB patients for treatment.

Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula said patients who were diagnosed with MDR TB had all been transferred to the Nhlangano Health Centre after the TB Centre in Manzini was being remodelled to accommodate COVID-19 patients.
When asked about the capacity status of the Nhlangano Health Centre, given that it is small and is now the only healthcare centre for TB patients, Dr Magagula said the centre was still receiving patients.
“There is a designated ward for TB patients at Nhlangano Health Centre. I believe the patient you are talking about was to be transferred there. However, I will investigate the circumstances,” he said.

Last week the Ministry of Health also said the TB Hospital at Moneni would have long resumed admitting coronavirus patients, had it not been for the structural improvements currently going on there.
The hospital’s mortuary is also currently used to accommodate the corpses of people who died from coronavirus related illnesses.

Union

Meanwhile, Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) President Bheki Mamba said nurses were doing the right thing by shying away from the ward because of the danger posed by MDR.
“The wards at the Mbabane Government Hospital were not built to accommodate patients with MDR TB, which then makes it difficult for nurses to work under that condition. The hospital that was built for MDR is the TB Hospital at Moneni. In its absence, government uses the Nhlangano Health Centre. The nurses were in a tight corner if they were supposed to treat a patient with MDR TB,” he said.

The World Health Organisation has issued a warning that health services, including national programmes to combat TB, need to be actively engaged in ensuring an effective and rapid response to COVID-19 while ensuring that TB services are maintained.
Educating on TB in association with coronavirus, it said: “While experience on COVID-19 infection in TB patients remains limited, it is anticipated that people ill with both TB and COVID-19 may have poorer treatment outcomes, especially if TB treatment is interrupted. TB patients should take precautions as advised by health authorities to be protected from COVID-19 and continue their TB treatment as prescribed.”

Government has repeatedly said that with the limited resources, it was doing its best to ensure that other diseases are not expendable in terms of medical staff and financial resources.


 


 

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