A persistent cough, traditionally considered to be the most common symptom of the infectious affliction no longer a viable metric to determine disease presence.

How undetected TB is growing across Africa

By PAULINE KAIRU More by this AuthorFour in every five people in Africa are carrying undetected tuberculosis (TB), facilitating its spread and presenting significant challenges for tuberculosis control efforts, scientists have said.
High-incidence settingsThe team found 21 percent of detected TB patients without persistent cough and 18 percent of patients without any cough had a positive sputum smear.
Consequently, this could serve as a significant factor leading to delayed or overlooked diagnoses, thus contributing to the lower-than-expected impact of tuberculosis control initiatives on the global TB incidence in recent decades.
In Africa, TB is the second leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, surpassing the toll of HIV and Aids.
Africa accounts for over 33 percent of all TB-related deaths in 2022, with an estimated 424,000 deaths of the 1.267 million total global deaths.