Pseudotuberculosis is a disease that affects the entire gastrointestinal tract. This is an acute infectious disease caused by intestinal bacteria.
Spread of pseudotuberculosis
Vegetables and a number of dairy products that were eaten without prior heat treatment can become a source of infection. The main route of infection is food. Pseudotuberculosis sticks are found in soil and water. The disease is transmitted by dogs, cattle, and pigs. But the main spreaders of the infection are rodents.
Bacteria can be found in the environment and retain the ability to reproduce for a long time. They live in soil for a year, in water for about 8 months, in milk for 30 days, in bread for 150 days, in sugar for 20 days, in oil for about 5 months.
Pathogens feel normal at a temperature of +2 … +12 0С, so pseudotuberculosis is most often detected in spring. Symptoms often resemble other diseases, so only an infectious disease specialist should deal with the diagnosis.
Routes of infection
Get pseudotuberculosisyou can by eating vegetable salads (for example, from cabbage, carrots, beets). The peak incidence is usually in the spring months. This is due to the fact that pathogens of pseudotuberculosis are brought into vegetable stores. The sticks get there along with the excrement of birds and rodents. And if we take into account that bacteria can actively multiply at temperatures above +2 0С, then it will not be surprising that this factor is called the first cause of infection of vegetables and fruits.
Much less often, infection is carried out through water - to pick up an infection, you need to drink from open water, and a person in their right mind will not do this. Dairy products can also be contaminated. Therefore, before use, all of them must be heat-treated. If you do not want to know what the symptoms of pseudotuberculosis are, then you must remember that the causative agent of this infection dies when boiled for 10 seconds or a minute after disinfection with 2% chloramine.
Course of illness
It is worth noting that it is not always possible to immediately diagnose pseudotuberculosis. Symptoms in children often resemble those of scarlet fever. Specialists identify several phases of the disease.
The first one is the infection process. The causative agent of infection, getting into the intestine, begins to take root in its walls. As a result, there are symptoms of inflammation - enteritis. From the walls of the intestine, the rods can penetrate the mesenteric lymph nodes and lead to the development of lymphadenitis. It happens on the secondstages of disease development.
In the last phase, the microbes of pseudotuberculosis and the toxins they produce enter the bloodstream. This is the cause of the development of bacteremia and toxemia. At this stage, the presence of microbes in the tissues of the spleen and liver is recorded. It is also possible to damage the thermal part of the small intestine and the development of erosive-ulcerative colitis. At the same time, a picture of acute appendicitis is observed.
It is also important to know that the incubation period can be anywhere from 3 to 18 days. Therefore, it can be difficult to identify the source of the disease.
Clinical picture
In most cases, pseudotuberculosis begins the same way. Many people have the same symptoms. Patients have a feeling of chills, and the temperature rises to 38 0C and more. In addition, patients complain of pain in the joints, muscles, head. Weakness is also noted.
Simultaneously with the indicated signs, a feeling of nausea appears. Some may vomit. Others complain of abdominal pain, which may be constant or cramping. They are localized on the right in the lower abdomen, around the navel, in the epigastric region or right hypochondrium.
A characteristic sign of pathology is a liquid, viscous stool with a pungent odor and foreign inclusions. It can be from 2 to 15 times a day. It happens that pseudotuberculosis also affects the large intestine. Symptoms in adults and children in this case are also supplemented by the presence of mucus or even blood in the stool.
External signs
We listedtypical symptoms of the disease. But besides them, there are also special symptoms that are characteristic only for the disease of pseudotuberculosis. In children (a photo of babies with this disease can help you diagnose yourself, but it’s better to see a doctor anyway), as, indeed, in adults, one of the clearest signs is the appearance of the so-called “hood”, “gloves”, “socks. The skin on the face, neck, hands and feet turns red. Changes become noticeable on the 2-4th day of the disease. In 70-80% of patients, a rash similar to scarlet fever appears on the body.
The patients' skin is dry and hot. The face may be puffy. Often you can see reddened conjunctiva in patients. In children, blanching of the nasolabial triangle is often noted.
There are other symptoms of pseudotuberculosis disease. Photos of patients who have been sick for the second week are very similar. They begin to peel off the skin all over the body. And on the neck, face, feet and palms there is a lamellar (or, as it is also called, leaf-shaped) peeling.
The disease can last from 2 to 15 days. First, the patients' tongue is covered with a white coating, it is cleared for 5-7 days, after which it acquires a crimson hue.
Other symptoms
But intoxication and external manifestations are not all signs of such a disease as pseudotuberculosis. Symptoms (treatment prescribed on time will help get rid of the negative manifestations of the disease) are quite diverse. Thus, patients complain of pain (arthritis) inwrist, ankle, knee and interphalangeal joints.
Also often, doctors find that patients have enlarged liver and spleen. Sometimes this leads to yellowness of the sclera and skin. In addition, changes are observed in the cardiovascular system. They are detected in the form of systolic murmur, muffled heart sounds. In severe cases, an arrhythmia occurs.
At the peak of intoxication, there is sometimes a decrease in the amount of urine excreted. This is accompanied by pain in the lumbar region. It is impossible to exclude the development of such a disease as diffuse glomerulonephritis. True, with pseudotuberculosis it occurs very rarely.
Other shapes
It should be noted that it is not always easy to diagnose this disease in patients. After all, it may not proceed in the classical form. It happens that the symptoms inherent in the disease pseudotuberculosis are lubricated. In children (treatment, by the way, in this case may be prescribed incorrectly, so it is better to pass all the tests), the catarrhal form of the disease resembles a common acute respiratory disease. And the erased symptoms may resemble ordinary food poisoning.
As a rule, the well-being of patients improves already on the 5-7th day. But all manifestations of the disease disappear only after 1.5 months. Throughout this period, the skin continues to peel off. Plus, relapses occur in 20% of cases, so in some patients the disease can drag on for 3 months.
Imminent danger
Pseudotuberculosis is most often diagnosed in children. Symptoms and treatment (photos of small patients give an idea of the externalmanifestations of the disease) are determined in the hospital. After all, an external examination is not enough to establish a diagnosis.
The situation is complicated by the fact that it is not always possible to detect the disease in the early stages. It is diagnosed, as a rule, already when microbes begin to die en masse in the body and toxins are produced.
It is important to know how pseudotuberculosis (symptoms) can manifest itself in children. Reviews indicate that untimely diagnosis and treatment not prescribed on time lead to the defeat of all organs and systems. Doctors specify that dystrophic changes begin in the tissues, granulomas and microabscesses appear.
On the mucous membranes (in the mouth, pharynx, intestines) ulcers are formed that bleed. Left untreated, they can lead to necrotic changes in the affected tissues.
Diagnosis
After assessing the general clinical manifestations, the doctor should prescribe tests. For the diagnosis of "pseudotuberculosis" bacteriological and serological examination is necessary. To obtain a complete picture of the disease, blood, feces, and urine are taken from patients. It is also necessary to check the cerebrospinal and lymphatic fluids.
To identify pathogens of pseudotuberculosis in the test material, the ELISA method (enzymatic immunoassay) is used. They also resort to the help of express diagnostics. To do this, conduct a study called the reaction of indirect hemagglutination with immunoglobulin diagnostics. Only after a full examination can we say that a person haspseudotuberculosis. Symptoms in children are often similar to those of other diseases. Therefore, differential diagnostics are carried out in parallel in order to exclude scarlet fever, rubella, tonsillitis, viral hepatitis, appendicitis, gastroenteritis or polyarthritis.
Treatment tactics
If pseudotuberculosis is suspected, the patient is hospitalized. They conduct a full examination and establish an accurate diagnosis. Antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs and sulfonamides are used in the treatment. The required duration of therapy is determined by the doctor. It depends on the course of the disease. With a generalized form, 12-14 days of therapy are needed, with a localized form, 10 days are enough.
For treatment, the antibiotic Levomycetin is most often used. To eliminate the symptoms of intoxication, intravenous administration of a glucose solution with ascorbic acid is prescribed. Ringer-Locke solution may also be infused. For severe lesions, corticosteroids are used.
Medicines are prescribed depending on what kind of symptoms pseudotuberculosis gives in children. Photos of babies at different stages of the disease allow you to understand how it should proceed. It is mandatory to prescribe vitamins C and B to stimulate the immune system.
In addition, desensitizing agents are prescribed. They can use drugs such as Diazolin, Suprastin and other analogues.
Infection prevention
Unfortunately, there is currently no vaccine against pseudotuberculosis. SymptomsThis infection should be known to everyone in order to suspect it in time and consult a doctor.
Medicine is not yet able to protect patients from infection with pseudotuberculosis. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to preventive measures. They must be carried out at the state level. It is necessary to monitor vegetable stores, carry out preventive rodent control, and follow all the rules for storing and transporting vegetables. In addition, constant monitoring of the quality of the supplied water should be carried out.
To prevent disease, it is advisable to eat only thermally processed foods and drink boiled water.
