Definition of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by ‘bacterium tuberculi’ which primarily cause lungs infection and creates difficulty while breathing. In this article we will learn the definition, types, symptoms and its possible preventions to avoid the symptoms and disease outbreak to other organs.
Tuberculosis is spread through the air , when any infected persons coughs or sneezes in open air and bacteria enters into the body of the person who inhales that air which have bacteria. This will cause the infection in the lung of the person and the symptoms will start appearing.
Types of Tuberculosis (TB)
There are mainly two types of this disease which are explained below :
1. Latent TB
In latent TB the bacteria enters to the person’s body but they are not in the active stage. The immune system of our body suppress it to inactive phase, but when there is any chance when immune becomes weaker, then this bacteria can come to its active stage and it will cause infection in the body.
If this latent TB is treated properly before it gets active, the condition can be made back to normal and the symptoms which can come in future can be prevented. In the next para we have written about active TB which can either directly enter to the body or enter through latent TB.
2. Active TB
Active tuberculosis is a type of TB, which when enters into the body, will cause the infection and symptoms will be visible as soon as the bacteria enters into the body. Latent TB can also transform into active TB whenever any immune suppression happens. When bactera in latent TB gets active, it will show all the symptoms of active TB which is the infection in the lungs or outside the lungs (extra-pulmonary tuberculosis).
During active TB the ‘mycobacterium tuberculosis’ is in its active phase and will show the symptoms. During this period, bacteria will multiply and spread into different parts of lungs and other body parts. When this disease is found, instant treatment can only cure this condition. This condition requires instant medical treatment to save the life and avoid life threatening symptoms. Let’s talk about the symptoms caused by bacterium tuberculosis.
Symptoms of Tuberculosis
Symptoms of tuberculosis includes many changes which can occur during infection of bcterium tuberculosis. Below are the 5 main symptoms of TB which are most common in the patients :
- Consistent Coughing : Cough is the main symptom of this disease and the patient will cough for more than two weeks. In this period he can cough sputum and blood in some cases.
- Chest pain : Chest pain is also very common in TB because of the infection in the lungs. This pain increases when person is breathing and coughing. This causes difficulty in breathing too.
- Fatigue and weakness : This condition of TB will cause fatigueness and weakness due to the infection in the body. Person will always get tired quickly after doing any work.
- Fever and Night sweats : In starting phase of TB, person may get periodic fever and night sweats. This one is also a symptom of this disease.
- Weight Loss : Weight loss is a very normal and common symptom of TB, which when noticed with other symptoms is confirmed as TB and it needs to be treated immidiately.
Best Preventions for tuberculosis
Any prevention is not full proof proved to be effective for the TB, but one can follow these in order to decrease their chance of getting this bacterial infection. The best 5 prevention practices are given below, which can help you to prevent the infection to some extent :
- Screening and early detection : It is the first prevention practice in order to prevent the TB infection in your body. Timely screening is very important, specially in the healthcare settings where healthcare workers are more prone to this disease.
- Treating Latent TB : Latent TB, as we explained above is the inactive phase of this disease, which when enters to the body, no symptoms will be visible. But when your body will be immunosuppressed, this bacteria can come to its active phase and the infection will spread in the body.
- Vaccination : Vaccination is very important part of the prevention, although all types of TB are not prevented by this method but for some of the types of TB, it will work, specially in childrens. BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) is a vaccine for younger childrens which protects them from some of the variants of tuberculosis. Check your local regional healthcare centre for more information about this vaccine.
- Infection spread measures : This infection is spread by mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is in air and any person inhales that. Or, when any infected person coughs and bacteria is inhaled by any other person, specially in hospitals. Always wear mask in such places and avoid being at these types of places without any work.
- Lifestyly and Nutrition : Maintaining a healthy lifestyle with good sleep and adequate rest is very important to avoid these types of infections. These infections including TB , comes over when immune is suppressed or if the person have any immunosuppressed condition like HIV. You need to seek for the medical emergency if found any syptoms of tuberculosis.
Summary
Tuberculosis is a condition of infection caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, which spreads from lungs and can outbreak to other organs of the body. You can check out symptoms, if they match then rush to hospital immedietly and ask for medical help. 5 major prevention practices are mentioned above which you can follow to decrease your chance of getting the infection.
You always try to practice the measures like wearing mask in public places or hospitals, and always maintain a distance with wearing mask whenever you are in front of any tuberculosis patient. If these measures will be taken, one can avoid the chance of infection and any upcoming major disease outbreak.
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