Ekram’s Story of Recovery from TB

Ekram, an 18-year-old student from Addis Ababa, was just like any other teenager, balancing school life and big dreams for the future. But a persistent illness derailed her progress, forcing her to put her education on hold. With time, support, and the help of a unique diagnostic method, she found her way back to health — and now she’s ready to share her story:

“A year ago, I started having a severe headache and fever. It got so bad that I was going to school on and off. I kept trying to push through, but after about a month of feeling unwell, I was finally diagnosed with TB. Before that, I went to several health facilities, but none of them could figure out what was wrong. They told me it was typhoid, typhus, or pneumonia. I had no choice but to stop school entirely — I missed three months and had to restart the year.

When they told me I had TB, I was really scared. I didn’t know much about the disease, and my whole family was scared too. We are seven people in the house — my mom, dad, two brothers, two sisters, and me. I tried my best to protect them. I isolated my feeding utensils and even slept in a separate bed.

It was lonely. I missed chatting with friends, seeing people, just being a part of everyday life. I spent most of my time alone, keeping myself distracted with my phone — watching movies, playing games, and messaging friends on Telegram.

I started feeling better after three months of treatment, but the clinic said I wasn’t fully cured. I ended up taking medication for a whole year. The first six months, I received a week’s supply at a time, but after that, I had to go to the clinic every day for two months, then every two weeks. It’s about a 40-minute round trip from my house. The nurse kept track of my medication in a register, which helped me stay on schedule.

Even though it was hard, I’m grateful I got proper information about how to keep others safe. I followed all the guidelines, and after returning to school, I wasn’t afraid to talk about my experience. I even encouraged one person to get tested for TB when they showed similar symptoms.

I recently found out that the confirmation of my TB diagnosis came through a test involving rats. I had heard of animal studies before but never imagined rats could sniff out TB. I thought they were being injected with samples like in lab experiments — but it turns out, they’re trained to detect the disease through smell. That was fascinating to learn.

Now I’m a big fan of these rats. I feel thankful — thank you for helping save my life. Tonight, I’m going to tell my family all about it. I’ll even share it with my friends on social media. People should know that TB is treatable and that early diagnosis really matters.”