THE Kelantan Health Department recorded 50 deaths out of 666 cases of tuberculosis reported in the first six months of this year.

Its director, Dr Zaini Hussin, said most of the TB patients in Kelantan were adults aged 55 to 64.

“It (tuberculosis) also infected children, which is around 10%,” he said.

Zaini was speaking at a press conference after officiating at the state-level Tuberculosis Day event at the Kuala Krai Mara Junior Science College today.

He said the number of cases this year rose compared to the 1,074 cases recorded throughout last year.

He said the increase was due to some patients taking it easy by delaying further treatment.

“This is most noticeable when some patients do not seek full treatment as the treatment period for tuberculosis is long,” he said.

“Tuberculosis patients who end up dying usually have other diseases such as heart and diabetes.” – Bernama, September 6, 2023.