Dr Rasheed Odunola, Director of Health Services, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), has advised people with Tuberculosis (TB) to avoid sleeping in the same room as others.

Odunola told newsmen on Friday that this would reduce the chances of infecting families, relatives, friends or colleagues.

The expert stressed the importance of ventilating patients’ rooms and the use of tissue to cover the mouth anytime they sneeze or cough.

“There is a need for them to wear a face mask when around other people, especially during the first three weeks of treatment,” he said.

Odunola stated that early diagnosis and treatment are the most potent way to curb the spread of TB.

The expert said a person may develop the disease after inhaling Mycobacterium tuberculosis usually spread through air droplets.

It is transmitted when a person with TB talks, sneezes, coughs, laughs or spits, he explained.

The director counselled smokers to quit, adding that cigarettes and the likes increase the risk of developing TB and make treatment harder.