With support from the EEA Grants, two new treatment units will be established at the only Czech hospital for patients suffering from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
Thought by many to be an illness of the past, tuberculosis (TB) is still a relatively common and sometimes deadly infectious disease. In the Czech Republic alone, around 900 patients are diagnosed with the highly transmittable disease every year.
The Thomayer University Hospital in Prague is the only unit in the Czech Republic treating patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. This type of the disease is particularly dangerous, as it is resistant to some of the most effective anti-TB drugs. With support from the EEA Grants, the hospital now sports two new TB units at the hospital`s Pneumology Clinic, dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of both multi-drug resistant and urogenital TB. The units are equipped with altogether 35 beds and state-of-the-art technology in order to provide patients with the best possible diagnostics and care.
"Before receiving this grant support, the tuberculosis patients were located in different hospitals, where adequate isolation for patients suffering from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was a constant problem," said Jitka Soukupová of the Thomayer University Hospital. With the new centre in place, patients diagnosed with the disease are sent straight to isolation in the new units.
Idyllically situated at the border of a forest, the new tuberculosis centre offers the patients complete isolation, with access to a separated garden, internet and use of TVs. It is crucial for the infected patients to be kept away from other patients, as the risk of contagion is severe. Visitors are allowed, but due to the threat of infection, visits take place without physical interaction with the patient. Once diagnosed, patients remain in the hospital for an average time period of two months. For the multidrug resistant types, however, the treatment period can extend to more than six months.
"Even now, in the 21st century, tuberculosis remains a very dangerous disease. With the global movement of people, we are facing new challenges as infectious diseases are no longer geographically restricted. People now travel from destination to destination, sometimes carrying diseases that are difficult to contain," said Dr Vaclava Bartu, one of the hospital doctors involved in the project.