Tuberculosis is an infectious disease of humans and animals caused by several types of mycobacteria. The causative agent of this disease is Koch's bacillus, which enters the body by airborne droplets.
How can you get TB
It is known that one sick person can infect about 20 people in just a day. Infection can occur without personal contact, for example, through dirty dishes. The causative agent of tuberculosis does not die even at low or high temperatures, when interacting with moisture or sunlight. Koch's wand can live in dust, on the pages of magazines and books for up to 3 months. Insects (cockroaches, flies) can carry tuberculosis. It is possible to get sick by eating milk and meat from infected animals.
According to the WHO, about a third of the world's population is infected. Every year, 8 million people become infected and 2 million die from the disease. In 2008, 25,000 people died in Russia. It is known that people living in adverse conditions are more likely to develop tuberculosis. There are also a number of factorsdue to which a person has an increased sensitivity to the disease. The most serious is AIDS.
Signs of early TB
Tuberculosis is a fairly serious disease, although it is often difficult to define it. Symptoms of the disease depend on its form and are similar to those of bronchitis. If there is chronic tuberculosis, then there are no symptoms as such, for a long time the patient may not suspect that he is sick. Early TB symptoms may also be absent in many people.
What to look out for
- Profuse perspiration at night. This symptom appears before everyone else and is present until the sick person begins medical treatment.
- Severe fatigue, drowsiness, weakness. These signs of tuberculosis in the early stages are mild, many believe that this is just the fatigue of the body. All you have to do is sleep well and rest, and everything will pass. However, if the person is really sick, such actions will not help.
- Dry cough. It is commonly mistaken for one of the symptoms of a cold. In later stages, there is a productive cough with expectoration of sputum, often with blood.
- Subfebrile fever is a state of the body when a person's body temperature rises slightly (usually not higher than 37 and a half degrees Celsius). For many, this body temperature may persist into the later stages of tuberculosis, although it is likely thatit will rise to 38 degrees and above.
- Rapid heartbeat.
- Pain in the stomach.
- Enlarged liver and lymph nodes.
- Bronchitis.
Unlike the regular flu, the cough does not stop, it is impossible to lower the temperature. There are persistent wheezing in the lungs that does not go away even if appropriate medications are taken. If a patient with tuberculosis is tested, then a large amount of protein will be found in the urine, the level of ESR in the blood is also increased.
Children, like adults, can be diagnosed with TB. Signs and symptoms of this disease are no different. Although at the beginning of the disease there may be a deterioration in appetite. And along with this, there is a decrease in the weight of the child or there is no increase in body weight. If, during a medical examination, the doctor finds that the weight of the child does not correspond to his age, then he must send him for an examination, during which the Mantoux test will be done.
TB is no joke
However, many people do not take early TB symptoms seriously, believing it to be a common cold or flu, stress or fatigue.
Modern medicine can cure tuberculosis at an early stage. But the identification of the disease at the initial stage is still very important, as this does not allow the infection to spread. Even if a person has recently become ill with this disease, being in public places, communicating with people, he representsdanger to the he alth of others. If you notice the symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage, you should see a doctor as soon as possible. Children are most susceptible to infection, as well as adults with a weak immune system.
Forms of tuberculosis
Separate closed and open forms. Each of them has its own characteristics in the course of the disease and treatment.
Open form of tuberculosis is the most dangerous for others, as coughing, sneezing, spitting saliva, the patient releases pathogens into the environment. And people in contact with him are at great risk of infection.
Open tuberculosis usually occurs in people who have not previously had contact with the Koch stick. The infection penetrates the lung, inflammation occurs. Then the inflamed area dies off. This process is clearly visible during the lung fluorography procedure. This stage is usually asymptomatic.
There is a so-called secondary open tuberculosis, which appears in previously ill people. In the process of the disease, parts of the lung also die off, but with the further development of the disease, its tissues can break and the infection enters the bloodstream, spreading to other internal organs. This form of the disease is also called miliary. The development of this stage of tuberculosis usually occurs within a couple of months, and symptoms such as severe cough and fever are present.
In Russia, patients with the second form of tuberculosis began to appear quite often. Such a diagnosis is madeto the patient when he is ill with tuberculosis, but does not pose a threat to he althy people, since the infectious agent does not enter the external environment. In the second form of tuberculosis, the disease proceeds slowly, then subsides, then aggravates again, becomes chronic. Diagnosing the disease is not easy. Fighting this form of TB is difficult.
Closed form of tuberculosis is characterized by
- Absence of outward signs of infection.
- Pleurisy, when fluid accumulates in the lungs.
- Occurrence of chest pain when taking a deep breath.
- General weakness.
Tuberculosis Diagnosis
1. Microscopic examination of sputum smear. A negative result of this study does not mean that there is no infection. Often at the initial stage of the disease, it is difficult to identify Koch's wand. Therefore, this procedure must be carried out at least three times.
2. X-ray or fluorography of the chest.
3. Sputum culture. This procedure grows cultures of bacteria from a sample of sputum taken from a person. The analysis is carried out for quite a long time - about three months. But it allows you to identify the sensitivity of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics, which allows doctors to prescribe an effective medicine.
Treatment
Both forms of tuberculosis are treated by a phthisiatrician. It is necessary to know that full recovery is guaranteed only with a timely diagnosis. It is necessary to undergo a fluorography procedure every year to prevent the development of a closed form of tuberculosis. Many people do not pay attention to the symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage, believe that X-ray exposure is harmful to he alth, and subsequently end up in a tuberculosis dispensary.
Treatment of this serious disease should be carried out continuously and for a long time. In addition to chemicals, people being treated are prescribed drugs that improve immunity, breathing exercises and physiotherapy.
