World Tuberculosis Day 2023 - The importance of infection prevention
24.03.2023
The World Health Organization has declared 24 March as World Tuberculosis Day. The date of the awareness day goes back to the discovery of the tuberculosis pathogen by Dr. Robert Koch in 1882. With 1.6 million deaths annually and an estimated 10.6 million people infected (as of 2021) (1), tuberculosis is one of the most common fatal infectious diseases worldwide.
- A weak immune system, lack of hygiene, and poor nutrition are risk factors for infection with tuberculosis.
- Tuberculosis spreads mainly in poorer regions and in war situations. When hygienic conditions are difficult and people live together in close quarters, the risk of infection increases because tuberculosis is usually transmitted by droplets.
- Without treatment, the mortality rate of tuberculosis diseases is high and is about 50 %. (2) Tuberculosis is treated with a combination of several drugs that differ in their mechanisms and sites of action. However, there are an increasing number of tuberculosis strains worldwide that are resistant to the standard drugs and limit the treatment options.
These development trends illustrate how important infection prevention is.
For infection prevention, the @Robert Koch Institute recommends targeted hygiene measures and the use of special disinfectants which have at the claim "tuberculocidal" or "mycobactericidal" (according to EN 14348/ EN 14563/ VAH methods).
Sources:
(1) Epidemiologisches Bulletin 11 | 2023 vom 16. März 2023
(2) WHO Global Tuberculosis report 2022
With the following tuberculocidal/ mycobactericidal products, we are making our contribution to infection prevention - in line with our mission: We protect lives worldwide.
Hand disinfection
Surface disinfection
Instrument reprocessing
Disclaimer: These products are not available in every country. For more information, please contact our local subsidiary or distributor.
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