Malaysia’s TB cases are up – here’s what’s driving the rise and how to protect yourself

Explore the reasons behind the rise in tuberculosis cases in Malaysia and learn how to protect yourself from this respiratory disease. Read more at straitstimes.com.

KUALA LUMPUR – When Mr Hisyam Mohamad woke up and coughed out blood-streaked phlegm one morning in 2023, his instinct was to ignore it, reaching instead for cough syrup and painkillers.

But his condition deteriorated. The 42-year-old oil palm smallholder from Pekan, Pahang, lost over 30kg in less than one month, as well as constantly felt cold and shivered. He was exhausted and short of breath.

Mr Hisyam was among the 26,781 tuberculosis cases recorded in Malaysia in 2023, a year that saw the respiratory disease rising by 5.5 per cent from the previous year.

Relating to The Straits Times his experience with the infectious disease, Mr Hisyam said that his only close contact with a TB patient was in 2017, when his father-in-law contracted the disease and died from it a year later.

“For years, I thought I was safe,” he said, recalling how doctors had told him he had a latent TB infection, sometimes referred to as “sleeping TB”. “The bacteria was already in my body, but it was dormant.”

Often referred to simply as TB, the disease has afflicted humans for thousands of years, leading many Malaysians to view it as a problem of the past, associated more with history books than news headlines.