Tuberculosis - Symptoms and First Signs

Depending on the location, individual characteristics of the body and the form of tuberculosis, the symptoms can be very diverse.If the symptoms of tuberculosis in adults are identified early, the disease is well treatable. Lately detected, neglected tuberculosis of the lungs - is often incurable.

Tuberculosis - what is it? Infectious (capable of being transmitted from a sick person to a healthy one) a disease caused by a certain pathogen - bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium. In the XVII - XVIII centuries, during the period of urbanization and the rapid development of industry, the incidence of tuberculosis acquired in Europe the nature of the epidemic. In 1650, 20% of deaths among residents of England and Wales were due to tuberculosis.

According to WHO information, about 2 billion people, one third of the world's total population, are infected with tuberculosis. Currently, this disease affects 9 million people worldwide, of which 3 million die from its complications.

Causative agent

The most common causative agent is Koch's bacillus, a bacterium discovered in 1882 by a German microbiologist, Nobel laureate Robert Koch. They are very tenacious, perfectly resist the influence of aggressive factors and do not disintegrate even when using modern disinfectants.

A typical place of infection is lung, but also distinguish tuberculosis of the skin, bones, eyes, lymphatic, urogenital, digestive, nervous systems.

How is TB transmitted?

It is important to remember that the main sources of tuberculosis infection are infected people. Transmission of infection occurs by inhalation of air with dispersants in it. The main ways how the disease is transmitted:

1. Airborne droplets- the main way of transmission of infection. Mycobacteria are released into the air with sputum particles, saliva when talking, coughing or sneezing a patient open form (the form at which the excretory is released into the environment) of tuberculosis;
2. Contact-household- when using dishes, personal hygiene items, linen sick person;
3. Alimentary(food) - when using products derived from infected animals;
4. Intrauterine- from a sick mother to a fetus during pregnancy or during childbirth.

The carrier of tuberculosis is not contagious, the presence of a tuberculosis infection in a person in the absence of signs of the disease itself is not tuberculosis. When a person develops active tuberculosis, symptoms (cough, fever, night sweats, weight loss, etc.) can manifest in mild form for many months.

Tuberculosis of the lung: the first signs

It is possible to single out certain first signs on which it is possible to suspect the development of tuberculosis of the lungs in adults:

• weakness;
• lethargy;
• dizziness;
• poor appetite or lack of it;
• apathy;
• poor sleep;
• night sweats;
• pallor;
• weight loss;
• subfebrile body temperature.

The presence of these symptoms is a significant reason for visiting a doctor and an additional examination for pulmonary tuberculosis. If a person missed this moment, then symptoms are joined to this symptomatology by the respiratory organs:

• cough - most often with sputum discharge;
• dyspnea;
• hemoptysis - from blood veins in sputum to significant pulmonary hemorrhage;
• pain in the chest, worse when coughing.

The last 2 symptoms are signs of complicated forms of the disease and require immediate start of treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis: Symptoms

With tuberculosis it is important not to miss the first symptoms, when the chance to cure the disease remains high.

However, here there are nuances, because often pulmonary tuberculosis for a long time without significant symptoms, and is found quite accidentally, for example, during fluorography.

For most forms of pulmonary tuberculosis, the following symptoms are characteristic:

1. The general condition of man- adults with limited forms of tuberculosis complain of increased fatigue, weakness, especially pronounced in the morning, is also characterized by a decrease in working capacity.
2. Cough. From dry to wet, with noticeable separation of phlegm. It can be curdled, purulent. With the addition of blood - takes the form of a "rusty" to an impurity liquid, unchanged (hemoptysis).
3. General form: patients lose weight in weight up to 15 and more kilograms, therefore they look thin, their face is pale, their features are sharpened and therefore it seems more beautiful, against the background of pale skin a blush on cheeks is noticeable.
4. Dyspnea. It is caused by a reduction in the respiratory surface of the lungs due to inflammation and sclerosing (scarring).
5. Increased body temperature: with limited forms, the temperature rise is insignificant (37.5-38 C), but prolonged.
6. The temperature rises in the evening or at night, at night there is a profuse sweating, chills.
7. Chest pain. They join in the advanced stages of the disease and during the transition of the tubercular process to the pleura.

Lesions of other organs are accompanied by signs that at first glance are indistinguishable from the symptoms of others common ailments, therefore, in the context of this material, it does not make sense to consider them.

Symptoms in children

In childhood, tuberculosis develops somewhat differently than in adults. This is due to the underdeveloped immune system of the child. The disease progresses much faster and leads to the most unfortunate consequences.

These signs should alert the parents:

• cough, lasting more than 20 days;
• prolonged temperature increase;
• loss of appetite;
• fast fatiguability;
• significant weight loss;
• a decrease in attention, which entails a backlog in schooling;
• signs of intoxication.

In general, the symptoms of tuberculosis in children, as in an adult, depend on the form of the disease and on the localization of the infectious process.

Complications

There are such consequences of pulmonary tuberculosis:

1. Pneumothorax- the accumulation of air in the pleural cavity - the space surrounding the lung.
2. Respiratory failure. With massive tuberculosis infection of the lungs, the volume of effectively working lungs decreases, which leads to a decrease in oxygen saturation of the blood.
3. Heart failure. Usually accompanies respiratory failure.
4. Amyloidosis of internal organs.
5. Pulmonary haemorrhage. It can develop when the vessel is destroyed in the lungs as a result of tuberculous inflammation.

Prevention

Prevention of tuberculosis development is the timely passage of preventive studies, primarily fluorography, as well as the identification of persons with an open form of the disease and their isolation.

Vaccination (BCG vaccine) - performed on the 5th-7th day of life, revaccination is given to children aged 7, 12 and 17 years old, as well as adults under 30 years of age, in which Mantoux test gave a negative or questionable result.

Diagnostics

Among the effective diagnostic methods aimed at detecting tuberculosis infection are:

1. Fluorography of the chest;
2. Mantoux test;
3. Blood test for tuberculosis;
4. Radiography of the lungs;
5. Inoculation of rinsing water of the stomach and bronchi, sputum and separated neoplasms on the skin.

The most modern method is PCR. This is DNA-diagnostics, when the patient's sputum is taken for analysis. The result can be found out in 3 days, reliability - 95-100%.

Treatment of tuberculosis

Treatment of this disease should be started immediately after its detection and be conducted continuously and for a long time.

The basis for the treatment of tuberculosis is the use of anti-tuberculosis drugs (chemotherapy). The main and reserve anti-tuberculosis drugs are allocated. The main ones are isoniazid, ethambutol, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, streptomycin. Reserve - kanamycin, protionamide, amikacin, ethionamide, cycloserine, PASK, capreomycin and others.

In addition to chemotherapy, the program for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis includes:

• adherence to a high-calorie diet;
• correction of anemia, hypovitaminosis, leukopenia;
• application of glucocorticoids according to indications;
• sanatorium rest;
• operative treatment (removal of the affected internal organ or its lobe, drainage of the cavity, etc.).

Treatment of drug-sensitive tuberculosis takes at least 6 months, and sometimes is delayed up to 2 years. Evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment is carried out monthly according to the results of detection of the pathogen in the patient's sputum. To oppress infection, therapy should be systematically, without pauses, then tuberculosis can not progress.

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