People who have had direct contact with a person with tuberculosis might be eligible for a free limited latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) test, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday on World Tuberculosis Day.
Starting from yesterday to May 24, people who have had direct contact with a person with tuberculosis — which has been confirmed by a local health department — would be eligible for a free LTBI test, limited to 10,324 people, the CDC said.
Those who test positive would be eligible for government-funded LTBI treatment, it said.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
The centers has consistently promoted tuberculosis prevention and pledged to work toward eliminating the disease in Taiwan, CDC Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
It also continues to strive for necessary funding and to collaborate with different fields to carry out control and prevention policies, he added.
The theme of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day was “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver,” he said.
Starting with a 10-year program in 2006 aiming to reduce tuberculosis cases by half, which was followed by a program in 2016 to eliminate the disease by 2035, the incidence rate of the disease has significantly declined over the past 20 years, Chuang said.
“The incidence of newly diagnosed tuberculosis has fallen from 73 cases per 100,000 population in 2005 to 27 cases per 100,000 population last year — a reduction rate of 63 percent,” Chuang said.
The CDC has also been promoting the use of nucleic acid amplification tests on suspected tuberculosis cases for earlier diagnosis and treatment, he said, adding that finding people with LTBI and getting proper treatment before it progresses to active tuberculosis is crucial.
“Last year, 115,547 people received LTBI tests, with 13,791 among them testing positive and beginning LTBI treatment,” he said.
While the incidence rate of tuberculosis has significantly fallen over the years, new cases are diagnosed every year, including more than 6,000 people who were newly diagnosed last year, Chuang said.
Tuberculosis is a chronic global infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and it is mainly transmitted through the air, such as by inhaling respiratory droplets from an infected person after they cough, talk, laugh or sing, Taiwan Anti-Tuberculosis Association president Yu Ming-chih (余明治) said.
Many people with the disease are asymptomatic during a long incubation period, making it difficult to diagnose, he said.
However, if people develop common symptoms of tuberculosis, including chronic coughing for over two weeks or even coughing up mucus or blood, chest pain, difficulty breathing, night sweats and unexplained weight loss, they should seek medical attention and get tested as soon as possible, Yu said.
If they are not diagnosed with multidrug resistant tuberculosis, most people only need to take medication for two weeks to significantly reduce contagiousness, but they should still follow a doctor’s prescription and go through at least six months of treatment, he added.
A person with LTBI is infected, but has not developed symptoms, Taiwan Society of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases chairman Wang Jann-Yuan (王振源) said.
The incubation period can be as short as three months and as long as 30 or 50 years, and the disease can progress to active tuberculosis when the person’s immune system becomes weaker, Wang said.
With advanced medical technology, it is easy and fast to test for LTBI through a blood test, he said.
People who have had direct contact with a person who has tuberculosis are at higher risk of infection, while people with diabetes, kidney disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are also more prone to infection, he said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their