Symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage. Fighting tuberculosis at an early stage

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease of humans and animals, which is caused by several species of mycobacteria. The causative agent of this disease is a stick of Koch, which enters the body by airborne droplets.

How can you get tuberculosis?

It is known that one sick person can infect about 20 people in just one 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 pages of magazines and books for up to 3 months. Tuberculosis can be transmitted by insects (cockroaches, flies). There is the possibility of getting sick by eating milk and meat from infected animals.

According to WHO, about a third of the world's population is infected. Every year, 8 million people become infected, and 2 million die from this disease. In 2008, 25 thousand people died in Russia. It is known that people living in unfavorable conditions are more likely to develop tuberculosis. There are also a number of factors, due to which a person has an increased sensitivity to the disease. The most serious is AIDS.

Signs of tuberculosis in the early stages

Tuberculosis is a serious enough disease, although it is often difficult to identify it. The signs of the disease depend on its shape and are similar to the signs of bronchitis. If there is a chronic tuberculosis, then there are no symptoms as such, for a long time the patient may not even suspect that he is ill. Symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage may also be absent in many people.

What to look for

- Abundant sweating at night. This symptom appears first of all and is present until the patient begins medication.

- Severe fatigue, drowsiness, weakness. These signs of tuberculosis in the early stages are of low severity, many believe that it is just the body fatigue. It is only good sleep and rest, as everything will pass. However, in the event that a person is really sick, such actions will not help.

- Dry cough. It is usually taken for one of the signs of a cold. At later stages, there is a productive cough with expectoration of sputum, often with blood.

- Subfebrile fever is a condition of the body when the temperature of a person's body rises slightly (usually no higher than 37 and a half degrees Celsius). For many, this body temperature can persist even in the late stages of tuberculosis, although there is a possibility that it will rise to 38 degrees or more.

- Frequent palpitations.

- Pain in the stomach.

- Enlargement of the liver and lymph nodes.

- Bronchitis.

Unlike usual influenza cough does not stop, it is impossible to lower the temperature. There are constant wheezing in the lungs, which do not pass, even if appropriate medications are taken. If a patient with tuberculosis passes tests, then a large amount of protein will be found in the urine, the level of ESR in the blood is also increased.

Children, as well as adults, can be diagnosed with tuberculosis. Symptoms, symptoms of this disease are no different. Although at the beginning of the disease, appetite may worsen. And 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 match his age, he must send it to the examination, during which the Mantoux test will be done.

Tuberculosis is not a joke

However, many people do not take seriously the symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage, believing that this is a common cold or flu, stress or fatigue.

Modern medicine can cure tuberculosis at an early stage. But the detection of the disease at the initial stage is still very important, since it does not spread the infection. Even if a person has recently fallen ill with this disease, being in public places, communicating with people, he poses a danger to the health of others. If you notice symptoms of tuberculosis at an early stage, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible. The most vulnerable to infection are children, as well as adults who have a weak immune system.

Forms of tuberculosis

Allocate a closed and open form. Each of them has its own peculiarities in the course of the disease and treatment.

An open form of tuberculosis is most dangerous for others, as coughing, sneezing, spitting saliva, the patient releases into the environment pathogens. And people in contact with it are at great risk of infection.

Clear tuberculosis usually occurs in people who have not previously had contact with Koch's wand. Infection penetrates into the lung, inflammation occurs. Then the inflamed area dies. This process is clearly visible during the procedure of lung fluorography. This stage usually proceeds asymptomatically.

There is a so-called secondary open tuberculosis, which appears in previously ill people. In the course of the disease, the death of the lungs also occurs, but with further development of the disease, it is possible to rupture its tissues and the infection enters the blood, spreading through 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, there are symptoms such as severe cough and fever.

In Russia, patients with a second form of tuberculosis began to appear quite often. Such diagnosis is made to the patient when he is sick with tuberculosis, but does not pose a threat to healthy people, since the pathogen of infection does not enter the external environment. With the second form of tuberculosis, the disease proceeds slowly, then subsides, then becomes aggravated again, becomes chronic. Identify the disease is not easy. The fight against tuberculosis of this form is complex.

The closed form of tuberculosis is characterized by

- Absence of external signs of infection.

- Pleurisy, when fluid accumulates in the lungs.

- Appearance of pain in the chest with a deep breath.

- Common weakness.

Diagnosis of tuberculosis

1. Microscopic examination of sputum smear. The negative result of this study does not indicate the absence of infection. Often at the initial stage of the disease, it is difficult to identify the Koch's wand. Therefore, this procedure must be carried out at least three times.

2. X-ray or chest X-ray.

3. Sputum culture. With this procedure, cultures of bacteria are grown from a sample of sputum taken from a person. The analysis takes quite a long time - about three months. But it allows to reveal the sensitivity of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics, which allows doctors to prescribe an effective medicine.

Treatment

Both forms of tuberculosis are treated by the phthisiatrician. It is necessary to know that full recovery is guaranteed only with a timely diagnosis. It is necessary to undergo fluorography 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 irradiation is harmful to health, and subsequently find themselves in a TB dispensary.

Treatment for this serious illness should be continuous and for a long time. In addition to chemical drugs, people who are being treated are prescribed medicines that improve immunity, respiratory gymnastics and physical therapy.