The results are ready for seven children who were tested for tuberculosis in the hospital in "Kozle" and all of them are negative. In the next two weeks, other children from the reception center will be tested in stages, about 15 in number, confirmed to "Sloboden Pechat" Dr. Katerina Boškovska, head of the tuberculosis department at PHI Institute Kozle.

The tuberculosis situation in the country became a topic of attention after a ten-month-old baby weighing only three kilograms died at the Children's Clinic in Skopje due to complications from the disease. His mother was also positive. Then another two-and-a-half-year-old child, who is on a respiratory machine, was confirmed positive for tuberculosis at the Children's Clinic.

The two-and-a-half-year-old patient was admitted to the clinic with a different diagnosis, with convulsions, fever and in a serious general condition, but because of suspicions, doctors repeatedly sent swabs for tuberculosis, and one of them came back positive. This child developed hydrocephalus as a complication. The tuberculous meningitis that this child has is a severe complication of the disease.

Doctors reassure that there is no room for panic, but also urge not to stigmatize people who may have tuberculosis. There is no detailed examination of the vaccination status of all children waiting to be examined, because some of them did not have health identification cards.

- The number is large because they are families with many children. But the covid-pandemic also took its toll, for three years we were focused on treating covid and we have an increase in tuberculosis, but also in other diseases such as cardiovascular, malignant, says Dr. Boškovska.

According to the data from the Institute of Public Health, tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis and it is transmitted by airborne droplets. Only a few microorganisms are needed to cause an infection. Annually in the world about 10 million people get sick from tuberculosis despite it being a preventable disease, while about 1.5 million die every year from this disease. About a quarter of the world's population is thought to have latent tuberculosis, meaning that any of them can develop the full-blown disease.

This disease is widespread, that is, it occurs in all parts of the world. Statistical data from 2018 indicate that the largest number of new cases were in Southeast Asia - 44%, and in second place is Africa with about 24% of new cases.