24.03.2024 – World Tuberculosis Day
Tuberculosis is a dangerous infectious disease that affects all organs, but most commonly the lungs. Tuberculosis is a medical and social problem influenced by economic and social factors, quality of life, and nutrition.
The causative agent of tuberculosis is a mycobacterium, discovered by a German scientist in 1882 and named after him – Koch's bacillus. Tuberculosis most often affects the lungs, but can also affect other organs: skin, kidneys, intestines, eyes, musculoskeletal system, etc., and is transmitted through airborne droplets.
The source of infection is a patient with an open form of tuberculosis. When coughing, talking, or sneezing, sick people release a large number of bacteria into the air, which can remain in poorly ventilated rooms for a long time and enter the body of a healthy person. The pathogen survives in dried sputum and on various objects for up to 6-8 months. Koch's bacilli survive in street dust for three months, in water for 150 days, and in milk and dairy products for 8-10 months, in river water they live up to 5 months, and in soil for 1-2 months.
People who are in prolonged contact with a sick person in a poorly ventilated room are at particularly high risk of contracting tuberculosis: in a prison cell, an army barracks, a hospital ward, or within a family. Infection can occur anywhere – in a store, on public transport, when visiting.
As a rule, the disease develops after prolonged contact with a patient with active tuberculosis and against the background of weakened body defenses.
Factors that weaken the immune system include:
insufficient or inadequate nutrition; consumption of toxic products (smoking, alcohol, drugs); concomitant diseases (HIV-infected individuals, patients with stomach and duodenal ulcers, diabetes mellitus, those using hormonal drugs for a long time, etc. are particularly susceptible to tuberculosis); stress.
It is proven that stress and depression negatively affect the immune system.
First symptoms and signs of the disease:
prolonged cough – dry or with sputum production (more than 3 weeks);
loss of appetite, weight loss;
general malaise, weakness, sweating (especially at night), decreased work capacity;
Periodic increase in body temperature.
Diagnostics.
The only way to detect the disease in the early stages of development is through fluorographic (or X-ray) and bacteriological examination. Annual fluorographic examinations are a reliable and safe method for detecting pulmonary tuberculosis and other chest organ diseases, especially in the presence of factors that reduce the body's resistance.
Prevention
Tuberculosis does not disappear without a trace. Even if a person recovers, residual effects remain in the lungs in the form of dense tissue, like a scar, which does not resolve. Rods can be "walled up" there, which can become a source of relapse under unfavorable conditions. Tuberculosis can be cured one hundred percent without these residual effects only if it is detected in the very, very early stages during a fluorographic examination. However, at this time, the person feels completely healthy and does not seek medical attention. This is the insidious nature of tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis prevention is based on the following principles:
1. Vaccination.
1. Eliminate bad habits.
2. Undergo fluorographic examination in a timely manner.
3. Lead a healthy lifestyle.
Your health is in Your hands!
State Institution "Rassonsky RTCGE", 2024.