RIFAFOUR-275 MY PRISION SENTENCE

November 2016 I died,

But prison brought me back, 

It was just black emptiness. No thoughts, no consciousness, nothing

No thoughts, no consciousness, nothing.

No hope, no thought, nothing.

It was just black emptiness. No thoughts, no consciousness, nothing

Until five chunks of pain gushed down my throat. 

Each morning for six months

Rifafour -275, my prison.

But not my death sentence.

Two more weeks and I shall be done with Rifinah -300. It's only two tablets a day but believe me its been a hell of a ride. It started six months ago when I would wake up and the bed was wet, you’d swear someone had splashed me with water. My thighs would sweat as if I was running, not forgetting the smell. It wasn’t your normal sweat smell; it was more of a sour smell that made the room unbearable. God knows I thought it was a fever, but I wasn’t coughing, yet I was always short of breath. So when I decided I had had enough of this smell that made me wake up at night to take quick showers before placing a towel on the wet sheet and sleeping again only to wake just as sweaty and smelly. I seeked medical attention.

I started my Tuberculosis treatment in November 2016. I’d swallowed five tablets of Rifafour -275 every night for four months before my dosage changed to two tables of Rifinah -300. Those tablets are very chunky I must say, but because I told myself it was for my own sanity as I saw myself knocking on deaths gate, I endued. TB is such a taboo topic amongst peers and I don’t know why because it is spread mainly through the air. When infectious people cough, sneeze, talk, laugh or spit; droplets containing bacteria are sprayed into the air. People nearby may inhale these bacteria and become infected. Bacteria can stay air-borne for a long time, and can remain active in house dust for weeks. However, transmission usually occurs only after substantial exposure to someone with active TB. People with TB disease are most likely to spread it to those they spend time with daily, such as family members and co-workers. This mean it’s a worldwide issues and people should take precautions and get tested. 

According to World Health Organization (WHO), about two thirds of the population are infected with TB, although most will not get TB disease. So what does this mean; it means that because TB disease is a serious illness caused by active TB bacteria. It can either develop when you are first exposed to the TB bacteria especially if you have a weak immune system, or it can develop as reactivation disease in people who have been previously infected. So people who are infected with the TB bacteria and have strong immune systems do not develop active TB. These people therefore have no symptoms and are not infectious. The immune system controls the infection by forming walls around the bacteria. This inactivates the bacteria, but does not kill them. They can lie dormant inside these walls for years. In many people, TB bacteria remain inactive for a lifetime, but in others, especially those with weak immune systems, the bacteria may become active and cause active TB disease.

The bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB) can develop resistance to the antimicrobial drugs used to cure the disease. We call it a Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). This is TB that does not respond to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the 2 most powerful anti-TB drugs.

There are 2 reasons why multi-drug resistance continues to emerge and spread; it’s due to mismanagement of TB treatment and person-to-person transmission. Most people with TB are cured by a strictly followed, 6-month drug regimen that is provided to patients with support and supervision. Inappropriate or incorrect use of antimicrobial drugs, or use of ineffective formulations of drugs (such as use of single drugs, poor quality medicines or bad storage conditions), and premature treatment interruption can cause drug resistance, which can then be transmitted, especially in crowded settings such as prisons and hospitals. It is becoming increasingly difficult to treat MDR-TB. Treatment options are limited and expensive, recommended medicines are not always available, and patients experience many adverse effects from the drugs. In some cases even more severe drug-resistant TB may develop. Extensively drug-resistant TB, XDR-TB, is a form of multi-drug resistant TB with additional resistance to more anti-TB drugs that therefore responds to even fewer available medicines.

I’m glad to say that my last sputum came back negative, even though the side effects of the drug are driving me insane. It was worth it, and now all I can do is look forward to living a healthy life.

LET’S GET TESTED and once you start treatment; please stay away from public spaces for the first two weeks as you can easily spread to the next person.