Tuberculosis Management

 

Overview

Tuberculosis (TB) is a potentially fatal infectious illness affecting mostly the lungs. Tuberculosis bacteria are communicated from person to person via minute droplets discharged into the air by coughs and sneezes.

In 1985, tuberculosis infections began to rise in affluent countries, mainly due to the advent of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV affects a person's immune system, making it unable to combat tuberculosis germs. In the United States, tuberculosis began to decline again in 1993 as a result of improved control strategies. However, it is still a source of concern.

Many tuberculosis strains are resistant to the most commonly used antituberculosis medications. Active tuberculosis patients must take a variety of drugs for months to clear the infection.

Symptoms

Although the germs that cause tuberculosis can live in your body, your immune system can usually keep you from getting sick. As a result, doctors distinguish between the following:

You have a tuberculosis infection, but the bacteria in your body are dormant and you have no symptoms. Latent tuberculosis, often known as dormant tuberculosis or tuberculosis infection, is not communicable. Treatment is critical because latent tuberculosis can develop into active tuberculosis.

Active tuberculosis, also known as tuberculosis sickness, is a disease that makes you sick and, in most situations, can transmit to others. It might happen weeks or years after you've been infected with the tuberculosis germs.

Signs and symptoms of active TB include:

• Coughing for three or more weeks
• Coughing up blood or mucus
• Chest pain, or pain with breathing or coughing
• Unintentional weight loss
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Night sweats
• Chills
• Loss of appetite

Tuberculosis can also affect other parts of your body, including the kidneys, spine or brain. When TB occurs outside your lungs, signs and symptoms vary according to the organs involved. For example, tuberculosis of the spine might cause back pain, and tuberculosis in your kidneys might cause blood in your urine.

Causes

Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that spreads from person to person via microscopic droplets in the air. When someone with untreated, active tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes, spits, laughs, or sings, this can happen.

Although tuberculosis is contagious, it is difficult to contract. You are much more likely to contract tuberculosis from someone with whom you live or work than from a stranger. Most people with active tuberculosis who have received adequate drug treatment for at least two weeks are no longer contagious.

HIV and tuberculosis

Because of the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, tuberculosis cases have increased dramatically since the 1980s. HIV suppresses the immune system, making the body's ability to control tuberculosis bacteria difficult. As a result, people with HIV are much more likely than people who are not HIV positive to contract TB and progress from latent to active disease.

Drug-resistant TB

Because of the rise in drug-resistant strains, tuberculosis remains a major killer. Some tuberculosis germs have evolved the ability to survive despite medication over time. This is due in part to people failing to take their medications as prescribed or failing to complete the course of treatment.

Safeguard your family and friends.

If you have active tuberculosis, it usually takes a few weeks of treatment with TB medications before you are no longer contagious. To help keep your friends and family from getting sick, follow these guidelines:

Stay at home. During the first few weeks of treatment, avoid going to work, school, or sleeping in a room with other people.

Ventilate the space. Tuberculosis germs spread more easily in small, closed spaces with no movement of air. Open the windows and use a fan to blow indoor air outside if it's not too cold outside.

Keep your mouth shut. Cover your mouth with a tissue whenever you laugh, sneeze, or cough. Put the filthy tissue in a bag, seal it, and toss it.