Tuberculosis isn't a strange name to me, I have definitely heard about it before, and I am sure you have also heard about it before also, but I was surprised today to hear that a certain country took it upon itself to create free medication for those with tuberculosis, they also had a target to clear off tuberculosis from their country at a certain time, this made me wish my dear county leaders will think in this type of direction, but NO, they are so concerned about enriching their own pocket that they do not bother about us, anyways, I am not going to bore you with my country issues, rather I am here to write on tuberculosis.
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Let me start by simply defining tuberculosis, it is a contagious infection that usually affects the lungs and can spread to other parts of the body like the brain and spine. Tuberculosis is caused by the bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It was a major cause of death in the United States in the 20th century, gladly most cases today are cured with antibiotics, however, these medications have to be taken consistently for about 6-9 months. Tuberculosis can spread from a person who has it to another person who does not through sneezing, singing, or coughing, planting tiny droplets with these germs into the air, and another person who is healthy, breaths in these droplets and the germs enter into the lungs.
It is easy for tuberculosis to spread very fast when crowds gather, or in a place where crowded people live. Those with a weak immune system or who have HIV/AIDS stand a higher chance of having tuberculosis, more than people whose immune system is normal. When germs of tuberculosis survive and multiply in the lungs, it is called Tuberculosis infection, the infection may be in one or three stages, and the symptoms are different with each of the stages.
Primary Tuberculosis Infection: This is the primary infection stage, immune system cells find and capture the germs, the immune system could destroy these germs completely, but some captured germs may still have the ability to survive and multiply. A flu-like symptom is common at this stage but some people may also not show any symptoms here, examples are; Cough, Low fever, and Tiredness.
Latent Tuberculosis Infection: The primary infection stage is often followed by this latent stage, immune system cells build a wall around lung tissue with the tuberculosis germs, when this happens, the germs will not be able to do any further harm if the immune system is able to keep them under control, this is not to say the germ will not survive, because it will. There is usually no symptom during the latent tuberculosis infection stage.
Active Tuberculosis Disease: Active tuberculosis disease happens when the immune system does not have the ability to control an infection, giving the germs the ability to cause diseases all through the lungs or other parts of the body. Active tuberculosis disease may happen immediately after the primary infection stage, but usually, it takes months or years of latent tuberculosis infection for it to get to this stage.
The symptoms of active tuberculosis disease present in the lungs will start on a gradual level and get worse after a few weeks, at this point signs like; fever, chills, pain while coughing or breathing, cough, chest pain, coughing up mucus or blood, loss of appetite, tiredness and general weakness are made manifest.
Active Tuberculosis Disease outside the lungs: From the lungs, tuberculosis can spread to other parts of the body, it is called extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The symptoms vary greatly depending on the infected part of the body, common symptoms here include; Chills, weight loss, fever, not having the urge to eat, tiredness, pain close to the point of infection, and general weakness.
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Active tuberculosis disease in the voice box is found outside the lungs, but the symptoms are more like the diseases in the lungs, the common sites of active tuberculosis outside the lungs are; the lymph nodes, skin, heart muscles, liver, kidneys, fluid that surrounds the spinal cord, skin, walls of blood vessels, voice box/larynx.
Active Tuberculosis Disease in Children: In children with an active case of tuberculosis, the symptom by age include;
Younger children have a form of fever that has refused to go away accompanied by weight loss.
Infants that don't grow or gain weight as expected, the baby could also have symptoms from the swelling of the fluid around the brain or the spinal cord, symptoms like; vomiting, poor feeding, being sluggish or inactive, acting fussy and poor reflexes.
Tuberculosis can only be spread through close contact with an infected person, and there is a greater chance of getting the infection if;
- You are a health care practitioner for those with tuberculosis.
- You work in a nursing home or hospital generally.
- Smoking.
- You recently traveled to an area with a strong presence of tuberculosis.
- You live or work with someone who has tuberculosis.
There are two common tests done to determine the presence of tuberculosis, we have;
Skin test, also called Mantoux tuberculin skin test, where a technician injects a little amount of fluid into the lower arm, after 2-3 days, the doctors will check for the presence of swelling in the arm. If the test comes out positive, then you possibly have tuberculosis, but there could also be a case of a false positive or false negative result if you recently got a tuberculosis vaccine, this means the test may have to be carried out more than one time in order to ascertain the real state of things.
Blood tests also called interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs), measure the response level when tuberculosis proteins are mixed with a little amount of your blood. These tests will not tell you if you have an active or latent phase of the infection, so if a skin or blood test turns out positive, the doctor will be able to figure out the exact type there is, the test carried out will be a chest X-ray or CT scan to look for changes in the lungs and Acid-fast bacillus (AFB) tests for Tuberculosis bacteria in your sputum, which is the mucus that comes up when you cough.
The treatment of tuberculosis will depend significantly on the infection. With latent tuberculosis, the doctors will provide medications to destroy the bacteria so the infection does not become active, these medications could be taken for 9 months, if there is a sign of tuberculosis even while taking the medication, then call a doctor instantly.
For the active stage, a combination of medications will help treat it, and they will be taken for up to 6-12 months. Drug-resistant tuberculosis will involve the doctor giving one or more different medicines that would last for up to 30 months and even come with more side effects.
If tests have shown that you have tuberculosis, try to limit your contact with people, cover your mouth when you need to cough, sneeze, or laugh, in addition, make use of a surgical mask especially when you are around others. Also, be careful about traveling to regions with high cases of tuberculosis.
Regardless of the type of infection, it is necessary to finish taking all these medications even after there is a relief of the symptoms. Just like other medications, tuberculosis drugs come with side effects as well, common side effects are; weakness, lack of appetite, numbness, and stomach upset. Untreated cases of tuberculosis could result in; Lung damage, Liver or kidney problems, Joint damage, tissue inflammation around the heart, and damage or infection to the spinal cord, bones, or lymph nodes.
Conclusion.
Tuberculosis is a serious infection that can affect the quality of life, the best way to prevent the spread is to reduce close contact with others who are free from it. Going for a test and taking medications as prescribed will do so much good to help with the treatment of the infections.
References.
https://www.webmd.com/lung/understanding-tuberculosis-basics
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8856#causes
https://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/howtbspreads.htm
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tuberculosis
https://www.who.int/health-topics/tuberculosis#tab=tab_1
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351250
Hi, I am Tobi a writer, speaker, relationship blogger, and lover of good music. I love making friends and learning from people. Want to hear me speak on relationships and general life issues, you can find my youtube channel where you can listen and watch any episode for free, do not forget to subscribe and share with friends. I sincerely appreciate every love I get from members of the community and do well to keep them coming.