Sometimes the doctor, after receiving the analysis, says the phrase "latent course of the disease." What is it, how to understand such a turn of speech? Could a latent current be less dangerous?
There are cases in medical practice when a disease caused by a virus or bacteria does not have an open, obvious course, but a hidden one. Then they talk about the latent current.
Latent - the meaning of the word
The word latent from Latin latens(-entis) is translated as "implicit", "hidden". This term is used in medicine to determine the implicit smoothed type of viral or bacterial infection. Or when the infection appears, but the virion cannot be found using a laboratory test for some reason.
Many diseases can occur latently and imperceptibly, for example, viral infections such as herpes, pyelonephritis, TORCH infections, hepatitis virus and others.
Latent flow - what does it mean?
It is not always an infection, once in the body, openlymanifests itself. Sometimes the virus behaves covertly, it lives quietly in the cell. After division, it passes into the subsidiaries, but does not leave toxins and does not cause any signs of disease at all. In medicine, this phenomenon is called the latent course of the disease.
The virus under certain conditions, for example, during reinfection, can manifest itself. Then the person suddenly discovers that he is sick, although there were no prerequisites for this before.
It's not good for the patient, but it's not entirely bad either. You just need to be aware that this infection is present in the body, and be on your guard. Since when immunity is weakened, the disease will immediately declare itself.
Sometimes, if the virus has been in the cell for a long time and could not manifest itself, its shell closes tightly, and the virus RNA cannot come out and create problems for its carrier. Such a virus remains forever sealed in a cell.
What determines the type of viral infection?
What is the reason why some people get the virus immediately, while others are only diagnosed with a latent type of the disease?
Immunologists believe that the type of disease may be related to two factors:
- The body's sensitivity to the pathogen. Some types of virions cause disease only in children. And the immune system of an adult is quite strong and does not succumb to the weak effects of the virus.
- A small amount of viruses enters the body, which cannot counteract white blood cells. Therefore the virusbehaves non-aggressively. He is just trying to survive in new conditions for him.
The disease can be present in the body for many years and not manifest itself until the person catches a cold. During an acute respiratory disease, the immune system weakens, there are no barriers to contain the infection, then the first symptoms appear.
Cytomegalovirus in adults and children
One of the so-called TORCH infections is cytomegalovirus (CMV). It affects pregnant women and causes complex pathologies in newborns. CMV is also very often latent. In adults, the infection is almost imperceptible. Young children may experience the following symptoms:
- jaundice;
- pneumonia;
- mild or moderate CNS lesions;
- diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and genitourinary system that periodically recur.
Adults usually don't even need to be tested for this infection. There are still exceptions. Knowing about the presence of infection is necessary for those who are planning to go on a course of radiation, who have AIDS, as well as young women who are planning a pregnancy.
Is there a threat if the infection has been in the body for a long time, but does not provoke any complications? If this is indeed CMVI, the latent course is usually not dangerous.
Chronic renal failure
Renal failure can be acute or chronic; there is also a subclinical course with a very long latent period.
Ua patient with a subclinical course has dry mouth, general weakness, nausea. But there are usually no classic symptoms and pain in the kidney area. Therefore, the patient does not suspect at all that you need to go to the doctor and check the kidneys. The main symptom indicating the need for testing is polyuria, which gradually turns into oliguria.
It often happens that a long latent course of CRF (chronic renal failure) leads to the need for hemodialysis. This type of therapy is used quite often. Treatment of chronic renal failure with a subclinical or latent course is standard. If necessary, prescribe adsorbents and anti-inflammatory. Antibiotics are prescribed only when the causative agent of the infection is found.
With a latent course of pyelonephritis, which leads to renal failure, an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate can be found in the analysis - above 12 mm / h. There is leukocyturia - up to 25 thousand in 1 ml of urine.
To study the causes of inflammation, if any, ultrasound of the kidneys, angiography of the vessels of the organ and also a sonogram are performed. On the sonogram, you can see a cyst, an expansion of the pelvis of the kidney, or stones in them. Only sometimes an excretory urogram is used.
What is reinfection?
The term "reinfection" means that the infection has entered the body again already in the process of treatment or after a complete cure. The latent course of some infections, for example, the rubella virion, after reinfection passes into an explicit, open form. When the number of virusesincreases sharply due to re-infection, then the infection begins to appear more actively, the first signs appear.
Tuberculosis latent
Koch's wand, like other infections, can cause a latent disease. Tuberculosis, even with a latent form of the course, is subject to immediate treatment for 6 months in a hospital.
In large cities with harmful living conditions, the TB virus is very common. With a latent course of the disease, a person can become infected again.
LgG and Lg M antibodies
Antibodies are protein molecules that the body produces in response to the action of a pathological agent that has penetrated inside.
When the body gradually adapts and looks for means to fight a bacterium or virus, Lg M antibodies are formed in the blood. This class of antibodies makes up only 10% of all immunoglobulin fractions. But he is very active and at the same time activates other defense mechanisms.
The main immune response is given by class G antibodies, or they are also referred to as LgG. If these antibodies are found predominantly in a blood test, then the disease is in an acute stage. They are activated after 5 days in the normal course of the disease. But with a latent course of LgG, a pathogenic microorganism is not noticed.
For certain diseases, such as different strains of hepatitis, there are specific antibody tests that can be performed at home.
LgG can cross the placenta to the fetus. And so often alreadyat birth, the child has some protection, although still weak.
The healing process is evidenced by Lg A antibodies usually circulating in the circulatory system. Sometimes it happens that no signs of infection were observed, but there are antibodies in the blood. This means that the disease has passed in a latent form.
Can a latent disease be diagnosed?
Finding a latent disease using conventional diagnostic methods is a rather difficult task. If the virus does not manifest itself in any way, then antibodies in the blood will not be detected. Mild weakness, which sometimes occurs, can be mistaken for overwork.
Doctors are unable to find the virus with conventional diagnostic tests due to the fact that the pathogen is often mutated. And the tests are designed only for standard strains. Another reason is that the virus is still too weak. Each disease has a latent period when viruses actively multiply and gain strength to confront antibodies.
You can find a virus when it enters the active phase and begins to multiply, causing harm to the body. Or when, at the end of the latent period, it is nevertheless possible to “detect” a pathogenic organism with diagnostic tests and give it a definition.
Tuberculosis latent infection can be determined by two parameters. First, if there is a marker of predisposition to the disease. Secondly, a reduced cytokine index is found. Then a person can be safely diagnosed: "tuberculosis in a latent course." This means that you needplan treatment activities and register a person in a tuberculosis dispensary.
Treatment
In each specific case of the disease with a latent course, the treatment will be different. Some bacteria react to some antibiotics, while others are difficult to treat with drugs. For example, the same cytomegalovirus is "embedded" in the DNA of a cell and it is generally impossible to "get" it from there or act on it with drugs. The host organism simply adapts to the pathogen.
If anicteric hepatitis B is suspected, the patient may be prescribed a special diet to support the liver. But while there are no official test results confirming the presence of hepatitis, no treatment is being carried out.
Prevention
As in many cases of infection with pathogenic organisms, as a preventive measure, it is recommended to walk more often in the fresh air, play sports and harden your body.
Patients with a latent course of any disease do not release viruses into the environment. You don't need to isolate them. Even with the family they can contact. They become contagious only when the disease becomes active.
Conclusions
So, how does the latent differ from the usual acute or chronic course of the disease? The latent course of the disease is a hidden process. Pathogenic organisms in such a course can either be passive, or their influence is so weak that the immune response to them is hardly noticeable.
Detecting antibodies with a biochemical blood test is usually notsuccessful in this course of the disease. Inflammatory processes in the body sometimes go away on their own without a trace, and sometimes they are completely absent.
