Hello everyone , do you know that Tuberculosis is not only a lung disease ?there are only few parts of the body where TB does not affect which can be counted on the finger tips . stay with us , we will be explaining all the information about the tuberculosis ?
Lets start by knowing What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. In today’s world, it is mostly a disease of poverty and it has almost eliminated from the developed countries while most cases are reported from developing nations. even with this distribution, it is the world’s second deadliest infectious disease after covid – 19.
Tuberculosis can be either pulmonary or extrapulmonary or both.
And let me tell you a fact that almost every part of the body can be affected by tuberculosis bacterium. there are only few parts of the body like nails and hair where TB has not been reported.
Overall, about 5 to 10% of infected persons who do not receive treatment for latent TB infection will develop TB disease at some time in their lives
It is mostly prevalent in high density region due to its highly contagious nature.
But there is a relief. even though one gets infected with the bacteria, it is not usual to get the disease. if host immunity is strong enough, it will stay as latent infection. Adding to this statement, I would like to correlate as immunity plays a vital role so immunocompromised patient are at higher risk of getting the disease.
When to suspect TB?
Early infections do not show any symptoms because of body’s immune system and most of the time remains inactive. this inactive stage is called latent TB.
If there is a failure of early diagnosis and treatment, this latent TB can develop into an active TB.
Active TB can be suspected if a person has these symptoms like
Persistent cough (more than two weeks)
Cough with blood in sputum
Fever for more than 2 weeks
Pain in chest
Weight loss
Night sweats
Loss of appetite
It doesn’t need all the criteria even with only persistent cough and weight loss, your physician can order a TB test.
How does it spread?
- Mycobacterium is a slow growing bacterium that thrive in oxygen rich areas of the body such as lungs
- It spreads through infected droplets released in the air by coughing, sneezing etc. from an affected individual
- It usually needs a prolonged exposure with the infected individual
- Immune suppressed people are at higher risk of contracting the disease and it is our immune system that stops the bacterium in going the active state of the disease
- People with Diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cancer, HIV / AIDs
Is it preventable and curable?
Well, it is, with proper measures you can protect yourself from this disease.
How to prevent from this?
- There is only a single vaccine available which is the most effective in children but sadly its efficacy in adults is in consistent
- If a family member is known to infected at home, use proper mask
- Keep separate utensils and room if possible
- Vulnerable groups like kids and aged people should be kept away from such persons
- Avoid large gatherings
- Keep the house ventilated
- Educate people
What Is the cure ?
- Combined drug therapy has been found promising in curing the disease .
The cure rate are more than 90 % if medicine are taken properly
But if you do not take the medicine regularly , you are not only delaying your recovery but you are making it more than worse .
Skipping medicine will allow the bacteria to mutate and be a strnger one which will resist the drug action no matter how much you increase the dose .
WHAT is DOTS ?
- DOTS stands for directly observed treatment shortcourse .
- It is a treatment modality in which like the term says directly oberserved , a person will watch you taking the medication under his supervision so that you don’t miss any of your meds .
- This ensure that the patient doesnot skip medications .
What are the test for TB ?
- For the test , the sample is collected according to the type of TB .
- If it has affected lungs , sputum is collected else it is collected from the organ involved
First of all your doctor will order an Xray of your chest and after suspecting he will recommend you to get these tests
The first test is microscopy test
- Bacteria can be visualized under microscope by adding some special coloring agents
- Such coloring agents are called Stains and in TB , this stain is called acid fast stain .
The other test is Mantoux test
- In this test, a purified protein derivative from the bacterium is injected and it will detect the body’s response to the protein,
- A previously exposed or recently exposed person will have antibodies which will react and forms induration on the injected area
- Calculating the size will determine the positivity of the test.
- Keep in mind, as it links will immune system, a person having weak immune system can still give the test negative despite of having the bacteria
The modern PCR test is called GeneXpert
- It detects the bacterial genetic material so even a single bacteria can be detected with geneXpert.
- And other advantages is that, the drug resistance in the bacteria is encoded in its genetic material so we can also detected if the bacteria is drug resistant or not with this technique