Tuberculosis, TB, patients have been advised not to sleep in the same room with other family members so as not to infect them.
The Director, Health Services, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, UITH, Dr Rasheed Odunola, who gave the advice at the university on Friday, said the measure would help reduce the chances of infecting other members of the family.
The medical expert stressed the need for affected persons to protect their family, friends and loved ones by staying at home and avoiding sleeping in the same room with them.
He also emphasized the need to always ventilate the room as well as always use the tissue to cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough.
“There is a need for them to wear a face mask when around other people, especially during the first three weeks of treatment,” he said.
Odunola also advised early diagnosis and treatment as the most potent way to curb the spread of TB.
He appealed to the people to immediately visit the hospital for proper diagnosis and treatment once they observed symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, fever, persistent cough, general feeling of fatigue and whenever they were exposed to TB.
“A person may develop this preventable disease after inhaling Mycobacterium tuberculosis which can be spread to others through the air droplets when a person with TB talks, sneezes, coughs, laughs or spits,” he said.
The medical expert also advised cigarette smokers to quit smoking, adding that smoking cigarettes and other forms of smoking increased the risk of developing TB.
He warned against such people smoking as it makes treatment of TB harder.
