Local doctor helping TB patients in Chuuk

Public Health medical director Richard Brostrom has been traveling to Chuuk a few days each month to help stop the spread of tuberculosis among the island’s population.

Currently, Brostrom has been helping in the treatment of five girls and one mother who have drug-resistant TB on the island. Four Chuukese with drug-resistant TB died this year alone, he said.

“We can’t turn our backs,” he said. “This is a treatable disease.”

TB is an infectious disease that usually attacks the lungs, although it can also affect other organ systems.

The Chuuk government asked for assistance from the Centers for Disease Control in the early part of the summer, Brostrom said.

When someone develops drug resistant TB, he said the cost of treatment increases significantly.

“You can see how this has a big impact on the local economy,” he said.

Chuuk has many factors working against it as the island’s people try to overcome the disease, said Brostrom who shared his experiences at Tuesday’s Rotary Club meeting.

“Chuuk is broken,” he said. “The infrastructure is broken.”

Chuuk is not the only place susceptible to the disease, though. There are factors that make areas in the Pacific more prone to the disease, he said.

People tend to live in close quarters and take part in large family gatherings, so if one person is sick, everyone can get sick, he said. Imported labor workers also tend to bring the disease over from their home country. When a patient does seek care, it is usually late in the process.

Some jurisdictions in the Pacific have passed laws in an effort to stop TB from entering. In Guam, for example, people who have traveled to Chuuk for more than six days must be quarantined, something Brostrom said he disagrees with.

“It’s absurd,” he said. “It’s crazy. Trying to build a moat is ineffective.”

The best way to protect one’s population is to help, he said.

“The CNMI stands alone in extending resources,” he added.

The five girls, ages 7, 11, 13, 15, and 16, are a month into their six months of isolation treatment. The Australian Nurses Council is providing a tutor for the girls, but they are still fighting boredom, Brostrom said.

He is seeking donations to give to the girls, including age-appropriate DVDs, educational videos, and toys and games.